Ghosts of Sherwood
by BluePotteryExpress
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, half of team SLAR is killed, and the other half disappears off the face of the planet. Kai, a Huntsman-turned-smuggler, builds up an entire black-market empire in an attempt to further himself from his failure as team SLAR leader. When ghosts from his past start to surface, Kai must either face his past or run to form a new life once more.
1. Character descriptions

Name: Kai (Alias, real name unknown.)

Age: Unknown (Between 25 and 30)

Height: 5"11

Colours: Hair: dark green. Eye: Yellow. Theme: Green.

Weapon(s): _Ortus _and _Occasus _(Latin for sunrise and sunset)_, _a pair of large revolvers. _Ortus _is gold, and _Occasus_ is silver. Each have a large blade underneath the barrel. Each chamber on the revolver holds a different type of dust, allowing for eight different types of bullets. The guns can change into swords, spears, and throwing axes.

Appearance: Kai's hair is of medium length, and very unkept. He wears an old, brown bomber jacket rolled up to his elbows over a light green shirt, with grey jeans and black-and-green shoes. He's very lean, but is a lot stronger than he seems. His symbol is a golden sun under a black bow-and-arrow, which places itself on the back of his jacket, and as a tattoo on the inside of his right forearm.

Personality: Kai is borderline insane. He demonstrates many of the characteristics of a sociopath, and is very immature. He has a hard time taking things seriously, and usually jokes around instead of being professional. If he is not doing something, his thoughts turn to the memories of his teammates deaths, so he tries to occupy his time as much as possible. This leads to him never forming close bonds with people, and spending most of his time building weapons or training.

Biography: Kai was an exceptional student at Beacon Academy, leader of the team SLAR (Team Solar) and teammate to Amber. During their final year, a mission went wrong, and Kai's leadership lead to the deaths of his teammates Ras and Arya. Distraught, he ran from the academy and formed a new life as Kai. Kai began working with local criminals, eventually stealing an airship (named _Marian_) and building himself up to be the prime supplier of black-market goods. He began forming other aliases that specialized in anything from assassinations to private investigating. He now lives his life pulling strings around Vytal, setting up gang conflicts and terrorist attacks to keep himself from thinking about his failure.

Name: Amber (Alias, real name unknown.)

Age: Unknown (Same as Kai's)

Height: 5"5

Colours: Hair: dark orange, black bangs. Eye: Teal. Theme: Teal.

Weapon(s): Amber doesn't use one. She has bands around her arms that hold dust, and uses her Aura to use it in the form of glyphs and energy-based attacks.

Appearance: Amber's hair is incredibly long, reaching her thighs. Her bangs hang over one eye, and are dyed black. She wears an undone teal vest over a black tank-top, and black finger-less gloves. She wears black shorts, with her right leg bare and her left leg covered in a teal legging. She has ankle-high boots with a slight heel and a thick belt around her waist. Around her arms and legs are numerous bands that Amber uses to hold all manner of things. Amber is quite thin, yet boasts an ample chest. Her symbol is a teal flame inside of a white sun; the symbol is on her gloves and her belt.

Personality: Amber is very protective of everyone who works for Kai, especially Tsuki and Dhana. She acts as a motherly figure while off duty, making meals and telling the others to clean their rooms. Amber is incredibly sympathetic to people in trouble, but is still loyal enough to Kai to not act unless he gives her permission. She gets angry when people don't listen to her advice, but never stays mad for longer than a few days. Her relationship with Kai is more out of necessity than preference: Amber doesn't want to leave Kai alone, or he might go insane.

Biography: Amber was an exceptional student at Beacon Academy, and member of team SLAR. She dropped out with Kai because she had romantic feelings for him, and didn't want him to leave her. Once Kai adopted his Alias, Amber changed her name to the colour of her hair. During the years after leaving Beacon, Amber eventually came to see Kai as a friend. She now works mostly as Kai's intelligence, helping him track down people and merchandise for the black market.

Name: Tsuki Shigami

Age: 17

Height: 4"10

Colours: Hair: shades of grey, black. Eye: Pink. Theme: Grey.

Weapon(s): _Broken Thorn_, a pair of black vambraces and knife. The name is etched in pink into the top of the vambraces in a dead language. The vambraces each hold pins that fold out into kunai when dropped from small slits under Tsuki's wrists. Kai adds collapsible, three-bladed glaives to them that have a small wire attached that allow Tsuki to swing around and fight faster (think Attack on Titan 3d gear). The glaives can change into small, automatic pistols that shoot whatever form of dust has been loaded into them. The knife begins as a foot-long square blade, but is rebuilt with two thinner blades that act as a sort of cattle prod. The knife can attach itself to the right vambrace's pistol by sliding into the grip.

Appearance: Tsuki has thick, wavy grey-black hair that goes just below her shoulders. She has a pair of large lynx ears that sprout out of her hair. Tsuki wears a black skirt, white sleeveless shirt and grey vest; the vest is always done up to her neck. She also has a sleeveless jacket with a hood, which she wears in public to cover her Faunus ears. She has knee-high black boots, with soft leather soles as to not make noise as she walks. She hasn't grown much since she was 12, making her look much younger than she actually is. Her symbol is silver, and resembles the shattered moon of Vytal with a laughing black skull on the largest chunk of the moon. It can be seen on the back of her jacket.

Personality: Tsuki is a Faunus, which leads to a lot of anger issues stemming from being discriminated against. She is very defensive about her species, and will usually try and kill anyone who insults her. Tsuki doesn't trust many people, and only opens up to Amber and Jaekobi. She takes great pride in her abilities, and is always ready to prove herself in combat. Growing up with Kai has conditioned Tsuki to be used to death, she became okay with killing by thinking about how her enemies wouldn't care about killing her.

Biography: Tsuki had been abandoned by her parents for reasons unknown. She grew up in the alleys of Vale, stealing food and clothes from outdoor vendors. When she was ten, Kai and Amber found her after she had been caught trying to take food. Kai had wanted to turn her in for a reward, but Amber convinced him to let her take Tsuki on as an apprentice. Tsuki then spent seven years learning about combat, stealth, and criminal activity. She now is largely independent, and has recently been allowed to join Kai on her first cross-kingdom smuggling run.

Name: Jaekobi (last name unknown)

Age: 25

Height: 7"2

Colours: Hair: black. Eye: ice blue. Theme: blue.

Weapon(s): An unnamed sword. The blade is nearly six feet long, and one foot wide (think Buster Sword). One side of it is serrated, allowing Jaekobi to cut through people as if they were paper. The sword has not decoration of any kind, and is a dull shade of grey. The sword can change into a five-barreled gatling gun when needed.

Appearance: Jaekobi has shoulder-length hair, with long bangs that hang over his eyes. He wears a long black trench coat over a dark blue shirt. He has black jeans, and wears heavy combat boots. None of his clothes have any form of flourish, aside from his symbol on the right sleeve of his coat. He is muscular, and can hold his massive sword easily in one hand. His body is covered in numerous scars he's received during his life. His symbol is a blue line inside of a grey circle.

Personality: Jaekobi is completely jaded. He never complains about assignments, and won't quit until he has met the requirements of his task. He is very kind to his friends, especially Tsuki. Nothing bothers him, and he can usually laugh over anything. He is prepared to die for any of Kai's group; even Aren, who he hates.

Biography: Jaekobi was conscripted into criminal activity at the age of eight, killing his first man at ten. Due to his massive size, he was used primarily as an enforcer or bodyguard by the gangs he was in. He was the first member of Kai's team, meeting Kai only four months after Kai had left Beacon. When Amber brought Tsuki in, she had been terrified of Jaekobi. Eventually, the two formed a strong relationship, basically becoming siblings. Jaekobi now works for Kai, still acting as an enforcer or bodyguard, but also taking on some of the rolls of Kai's numerous Aliases.

Name: Aren Kastanéry

Age: 17

Height: 5"9

Colours: Hair: copper. Eye: forest green. Theme: orange/white.

Weapon(s): _Blood Money_, a formidable two-bladed sword. One blade is red, the other bronze. The blades are four inches apart, yet just touch at the point, making it look like the blade has a hollowed-out centre. Its handle is black and has a black chain connected to the pommel. The chain is connected to a dark red buckler Aren wears on his left arm. The buckler and sword handle have a golden star on them. Aren fights by swinging the sword around on the chain (think Kratos from GoW). _Blood Money _can be changed into a rifle that resembles a small artillery cannon; it shoots high-impact dust rounds.

Appearance: Aren's coppery hair sticks up in random spikes, with a few locks falling over his face. He wears a heavy white coat with sleeves that end just above his elbows. The coat also has a collar that extends past Aren's ears. Aren wears a black, sleeveless shirt underneath of the coat, and has a golden bandolier that holds the rounds for _Blood Money._ He has tight black pants and large white boots with orange flair. He has an athletic build, and possesses enough strength to be able to swing his sword around effectively. His symbol is a white spear going through an orange Boarbatusk head. The symbol can be seen on the side of Aren's pants, and tattooed on his right forearm.

Personality: Aren is very aggressive and proud. He butts heads with most of the others, especially Tsuki. He is furiously driven to be the best he possibly can, and takes great offence at being placed in second. Despite arguing and fighting with Tsuki, the two make a very good tag team in battle. He acts incredibly cocky and arrogant because he can't stand being pitied by others.

Biography: Aren grew up in the upper-class district of Vale. He and his older brother Pallan were always fighting for attention from their mob-boss father. His father favored Pallan, forcing Aren to push himself even hard to gain approval. This attitude followed Aren when he was sent to Sanctum Academy as he once again was in the shadow of another, a young woman named Pyrrha Nikos. His father pulled him from Sanctum a year before graduation and sent him to Kai. Aren now works under Kai, mostly to learn how to be a second in command for when Pallan takes over the family crime ring.

Name: Desmin Vilcan

Age: 21

Height: 6"

Colours: Hair: blonde. Eye: dark brown. Theme: unknown.

Weapon(s): An unnamed poleaxe. The axe can be reformed into a shotgun, but Desmin mostly uses its skateboard form for transportation. Desmin's real weapons are the androids and mechs that he builds.

Appearance: Desmin's hair is short, but messy. He wears a dark orange shirt with an undone, black, button-down shirt over top. He has light blue jeans covered in oil stains and paint with black shoes. Desmin is of medium build, and possesses an average level of strength. His symbol is a black hammer and anvil; it's seen on the front of his shirt (With the phrase "When in doubt, beat one out" under it).

Personality: Desmin is carefree and likes to joke about anything he can and is the only one in the group who is on good terms with everyone. He has a very crude manner of speech, peppering profanity throughout all he says. He takes great pride in the things he builds, naming some of the more impressive ones. He and Kai get along famously, with both having an unnatural love of building things. He has an affinity for alcohol, and tends to not think things through very well. He also has a tedious romantic relationship with Dhana, who he met after she removed a bullet from his chest.

Biography: Desmin grew up with his older brother Calum in the outskirts of Vale. His parents were both immigrants, and their accents were passed on the two brothers. When Desmin was ten, he began helping his father out at the auto shop he worked at. By age fifteen, Desmin had memorized every part of an engine and could put one together with his eyes closed. At seventeen, he and Calum had fixed a tiltjet for Kai, who offered them a spot on his team. Now, Desmin pilots and does repairs on _Marian,_ while also doing most of the repairs around their base of operations, Sherwood. He spends his free time working on android frames, vehicles, and weapons with Kai.

Name: Calum Vilcan

Age: 22

Height: 5"10

Colours: Hair: red. Eye: light brown. Theme: unknown.

Weapon(s): An unnamed bastard sword. The blade is a deep blue, and the sword can change into a shotgun when needed. Calum doesn't fight much, he instead plays a more supportive part in Kai's group.

Appearance: Calum has mid-length hair that he keeps slightly unkept, and a light beard. He wears similar clothes to his younger brother, but instead has a dark grey dress shirt he keeps buttoned up. His pants are dark blue and have his symbol covering the left leg. He wears a pair of black and red high-topped sneakers. His symbol is a white hammer and anvil.

Personality: Calum is a more collected version of Desmin. He is openly gay, but doesn't call heavy attention to it unless asked. Calum doesn't get mad, but will still get into fights if he needs to. He and Amber frequently work together, and are good friends.

Biography: Calum grew up with Desmin in the outskirts of Vale. His parents were both immigrants, and their accents were passed on the two brothers. He started helping his dad at the autos shop at ten, but never had the talent Desmin did for vehicles; he instead found his passion for eavesdropping on others. During his teens, he was bullied often over his sexuality, but Desmin would always step in to defend him, even if it meant Desmin getting beaten up as well. He and Desmin fought occasionally, but they still remained close as ever. Now Calum helps Amber with intelligence work and does minor break-ins and blackmailing jobs.

Name: Dhana Balūta

Age: 19

Height: 5"5

Colours: Hair: black. Eye: chestnut brown. Theme: unknown.

Weapon(s): None, Dhana doesn't fight.

Appearance: Dhana is the only foreign member of Kai's eight-man team. She has dark, caramel-coloured skin and long black hair that she ties in a braid. She wears a cream-coloured halter top made up of a long strip of cloth. Dhana has a long red cloth she keeps tied around her waist in such a way to leave a long strip left over on her right side. Underneath is a pair of brown shorts. Dhana wears simple leather sandals, and has a coiled snake made of bronze surrounding her left bicep. She appears delicate, yet still has an athletic build. Her symbol is two snakes coiled around a sceptre; its located, as a large red tattoo, on Dhana's upper back.

Personality: Dhana is the odd one out in the group. She is quiet and tends to keep to herself. Despite this, she can be very controlling and can easily silence a room when she needs to. When she does talk, she does so with a genuine smile on her face. Dhana is very agreeable, and carries no ill-will toward anyone, no matter what they do.

Biography: Dhana grew up in a small village in one of the southern Kingdoms (Which will be named once I know what they're all called) with her mother and father. When Dhana was six, her mother was struck with disease, and had to be moved to a hospital. Dhana refused to leave her mother, so the hospital staff allowed her to stay. Even after her mother got better Dhana still went to the hospital, infatuated with the idea of healing people. After ten years of watching and learning, Dhana was at the level of most of the staff, yet still couldn't work due to her lack of formal teaching. At seventeen, she dug a bullet out of Desmin in the alley behind a bar and was offered a job as an on-board doctor by Kai. She now acts as the group's doctor for every need: mental, physical, and emotional.

Allusions:

The overall team is a reference to Robin Hood. They live in an abandoned group of warehouses dubbed Sherwood, fly around in a ship called _Marian_, and steal from the rich to give to the people who cause problems for the rich.

Team SLAR, Ras, and Arya are all references to sun gods. Ras alludes to Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun. Arya alludes to Aryaman, a Hindi god of the sun. All four members of SLAR have symbols that contain a sun.

Tsuki Shigami: Tsuki is a way to say moon (Which her symbol has) and Shigami is a corruption of Shinigami, the Japanese word for grim reaper. Her symbol shows both the moon, and a skull to symbolize death.

Aren Kastanéry: Aren is a corruption of Ares, the Greek god of war. Kastanéry comes from kastanérythroú, which is Greek for "Rust-coloured". His symbol is ripped strait from a version of Ares'.

Desmin and Calum Vilcan: Their last name comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge. Both brothers have talent with machines and technology (Desmin much more than Calum). Their symbol contains common tools found in a forge.

Dhana Balūta: Dhana comes from Dhanvantari, the god of traditional Indian medicine. Balūta is Hindi for chestnut, which is the colour of her eyes.


	2. Chapter 1

Part 1

Kai

Kai slid down into his chair, staring out the windows at the endless expanse of water before him. This had been their eighth day at sea, and his crew would be getting restless with the lack of action. _And this ship is falling to pieces as we wait._ It was bad. Earlier that day, the back wing had succumbed to the stress and broke halfway down its length. If they didn't get help soon, the ship would plummet towards the ocean. _Our best bet would be a dust tanker, they would help a ship in need. However, this area is known for pirate activity, we may not get a chance to talk before they shoot us out of the sky. We could activate all our emergency lights, but even tanker captains wouldn't be stupid enough to not see that as a trap. I'm pretty sure our emergency lights don't even work. That leaves either finding another smuggler and trading for parts, or running the risk of attacking a–. _His concentration broke when he heard the sound of someone approaching. He spun his chair slowly and raised his gaze to meet that of his guest.

_Oh right, she's here. _Tsuki Shigami had been living on the street before Kai had been "persuaded" to take her under his wing by his partner Amber. Amber had trained her for seven years before allowing her to join Kai on this smuggling run. Even then, Amber had not been happy with Kai's idea of bringing Tsuki along. _It's kind of ironic, Amber wouldn't let her come because of how dangerous this is, and this is the only trip I've had without running into problems. I guess that's a good thing; if anything happens to Amber's little protégé, she'll kill me. _

"So, how are you enjoying your first smuggling run?" he asked. "I swear it's usually a lot more exciting than this."

"Ya, it's great: endless ocean, bad food, the constant fear of this ship falling from the sky; I'm having the time of my life." Tsuki replied. "Are we almost there? Amber just started showing me how to control my Aura."

Kai smiled, remembering his time at the Academy learning how to control his Aura. "I wouldn't want to keep you from that; we should be back home in Sherwood in about a week."

"Good. I like land much better than sea." Tsuki said. "Why can't you fly over land instead?"

Kai gave an exaggerated sigh and leaned far back in his chair. "Because we don't need to get in more fights than necessary and Grimms can't swim. Well, at least I don't think they can."

"Can't some types fly?"

Kai sat up sharply in his chair. "You're over-analyzing the situation. Don't over-analyze the situation." he said. "Now, is there a reason you here, or are you just going to keep being useless?"

Kai saw a frown form in the corner of Tsuki's mouth. _Good, I'm pissing her off. If she can't get mad, it's no fun to have her here. _It's something he did with everyone aboard; he had to keep himself entertained when the ship was alone.

He continued. "You're not useless anymore though, right? You've grown a lot since then, haven't you; a whole inch. You almost look thirteen, you've become such a big girl." Kai couldn't contain his grin. _She hates being patronized, this should get me somewhere._

Tsuki cursed under her breath. "I'm seventeen, I can take care of myself. I've been told I'm much more capable than you were at my age; Amber said I'm good enough to become a huntress." she said, producing two apples from the folds of her skirt. "Something I here even you couldn't do." She threw one apple forcefully at Kai's head.

Kai caught the apple before it impacted his face, and took a bite. _Well, it seems Amber can't shut up about the past. I wonder, did she mention she dropped out with me? _Kai and Amber had been part of the same team at The Academy, but dropped after the other two- _Wait, I'm getting away from myself. It doesn't matter, thinking about it won't bring them back. _Kai brought his attention back to Tsuki. _I've got my handhold now, she thinks she's as good as a huntress. Now, where to go from here. She's clearly confident in her abilities, so I can't tell her she'd be inadequate. She's short, that's something. But I started there, I need more than that. Um… she has grey hair? No, that's stupid! What can I do? _Kai raised his gaze and saw the large grey lynx ears that poked out of her hair. _Oh, right._

Kai swallowed his bite of the fruit and leaned forward. "You're being so naïve. With ears like that, the best you'll do without me is a lucrative job in the dust mines." _Ha, no way in hell is she letting that slide, I've got her._

Kai was right. Tsuki's right hand dropped her apple and flew to her back, producing the long knife she kept there. Screaming, she threw a strong, horizontal slash toward his neck. Kai had expected such a move; he leaned back in his chair and watched calmly as the foot-long blade passed inches from his face. He grabbed her wrist and twisted, forcing the knife out of her hand. His other hand went to his belt to pull _Ortus_ on her, but instead of the warm, familiar grip of his gun, his fingers grasped only empty space. He raised his head to see the large golden revolver in Tsuki's other hand, being pressed against his stomach. _Well, didn't expect that, guess I'm done for the day._

"Well, I see Amber's taught you well. I'm proud to say I didn't even notice." Kai said as he raised his hands above his head in mock surrender. "But you still snapped, so I still win. Don't worry about not being able to be a Huntress, what we do here is a lot more fun." Tsuki stepped back, but still kept _Ortus_ pointed toward his chest, her eyes burning with rage. Kai raised himself from his chair and stood to his full height, a good foot above Tsuki. _I think I may have gone a little too far. _"So you were able to best me, fantastic job. Now, give it back."

"Why should I? What can you do about it?" Tsuki's ears had flattened out and disappeared into her dark grey hair. "If you stop pissing me off, I'll think about giving it back."

Kai laughed softly to himself. "Not very likely. We both know I'll come out on top in the end, why not just give up now?"

"What if I just shot you? You can't come out on top if you're dead."

"True, but then you'd be stuck on an airship falling apart at the seams over an ocean. The nearest land's over two thousand miles away, and not developed. Even if you were able to get there, you'd just get killed by Grimms." Kai couldn't help but feel smug. "So either you shoot me and definitely die, or give _Ortus_ back and probably die."

Tsuki still held _Ortus_ strait, but Kai could tell she was having second thoughts, "That doesn't sound very hopeful." she said.

Kai smiled. "Never said it was. Now, be a good little girl, and stop pointing my own gun at my chest. I'll make Amber teach you to use your Aura to punch through steel."

Tsuki gave him an annoyed look. "Shut up."

Kai dropped his arms to his side and laughed. "Well you're chipper today." he said. _I can't believe I'm resorting to this._ Kai sighed, disappointed it had to come to this. "I'm only gonna say this once, so cherish the moment. You win."

That was all the motivation Tsuki needed. She moved her finger off _Ortus_'s trigger, and gave Kai the opportunity he needed. He would never do anything without a backup plan, and this conversation was no different. This backup plan wasn't complicated, just _Ortus_'s silver twin, _Occasus_. He pulled the gun and held it to Tsuki's face before she had time to react.

"So how's this for being on top? I'd like to believe I've won, so give me my gun back." Kai said, and held out his spare hand to take _Ortus_.

Tsuki reluctantly turned the gun over and pressed the handle roughly into Kai's palm. "You've just pulled a gun on a seventeen-year-old girl to get what you want. Happy with yourself?" she said, glaring at him.

Kai holstered the guns. "Oh quite, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because that girl came here to tell you that dust to run the engines is running out. Three days tops until this horrible flying ship becomes an even worse floating ship; and by floating ship I mean sinking ship. Seriously, I can see through the bottom of this thing."

"Don't talk about my _Marian _like that, even if she isn't exactly a ship in her prime. None the less, pirates should show up soon. We can steal from them." Kai turned and walked to the window, scanning the horizon for any signs of movement. "Stealing from pirates is legal, right?"

"Probably not." Tsuki strode across the room to stand beside him. "Also, why do you keep saying pirates? Pirates haven't been a thing in at least a hundred years."

Kai looked down at her. "I use pirates because pirates are awesome. It's also easier to say pirates than criminals, rebels, gangs, and terrorists, so that's another point in my favor."

Kai heard Tsuki mumble under her breath. "Would it kill you to take things seriously for once?" she asked. "This is my first actual trip and I'd like to survive it."

"Ah, ye of little faith. We're doing just fine. We'll be back to Sherwood before you know it." He stared back out the window, looking for anything besides water. "Just to let you know, I had a cousin who took things seriously. Want to know what happened to him?"

"He died?" Tsuki asked; Kai could tell she was still pissed off.

"He died." Kai responded with. "Now, is that all? I'd like to start writing down a list of what to buy when we sell all our cargo."

"Nothing else you'll care about." she said.

"Good." Kai looked down at the vambraces Tsuki wore on her arms. "Leave those here, its high time I do something to them."

Tsuki looked confused. "Why? I like them."

"All they do is shoot kunai, I can do so much more." Kai said. He looked down at his revolvers. The past fourteen years definitely showed on them; both guns had large blades attached under the barrels and each chamber held a different form of dust to allow him to shoot everything from Aura to metal to lighting. He could also change them into swords, spears, or axes by manipulating the handles. _Dust is great, no one else in the world has weapons as ridiculous as these. _He looked back towards Tsuki's simple black arm guards. _Maybe I'll add a way to shoot explosive kunai. Maybe add flamethrowers? No, retractable broadswords! Or have them shoot rockets that explode into corrosive needles on contact! _Kai looked up at Tsuki's face and saw fear in her eyes, then became aware of the deranged look on his face. _I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. _

"It won't be anything ridiculous, okay?" he promised, trying his best to not sound too excited about the idea of making new weapons.

Tsuki stared at her vambraces "I guess, just make sure I can still use them." She looked at _Ortus_ dangling at his waist. "Just holding that thing confuses me." She undid the straps, and slid them of her arms.

Kai took the plain metal bands from her and began studying them. "Would you be fine with me adding some flair to these things? They're awfully boring." Kai asked, hoping for the answer he wanted. "Something pink perhaps? It'll match your eyes. That matters, right?"

She looked at the guards like it was the last time she'd ever see them. "I guess, they are kind of plain." she said.

"Good. Now, out of my room, I'll get these back to you later." Kai walked over to his workbench and put the vambraces down. Just before she left, he asked her one more thing.

"How much do you weigh?"

Tsuki didn't even turn to respond. "Around eighty to ninety, why?"

"Not telling. Get out." Kai turned back to the bench and heard the door slam.

He turned over the vambraces and began planning their upgrades. _I'll have to add a half-inch underneath for this to work. _He opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of collapsible, three-bladed glaives. _I'll need wire with a hundred pound limit, at least. _If anyone came in to talk, he never noticed.

Part 1

Tsuki

Tsuki started down the corridor away from Kai's room. _Stupid prick, with his stupid green hair and his stupid cocky attitude. _Kai fancied himself as a genius, but all he had to his name was his skill in weapon crafting. Everyone on the ship knew Kai always walked the thin line of eccentric to insanity, but no one would question him when he gave orders. He _had_ managed to get his hand into the pockets of most gang leaders in Vytal, and even some of the smaller academies.

"So? What'd you do? I could have heard you screaming from the engine room, and that kind of anger is only made by Kai." She looked in the room to her right to see Jaekobi sitting against the far wall, staring at her through his jet black hair while sharpening his sword. "Did you kill him?"

"Tsuki shook her head. "I did pull a knife on him though; and a gun. His gun." She stepped up to stand across from him, enjoying the ability to look down to someone for once.

"That it? I tried throwing him out a window last time he pissed me off." Jaekobi said, running his finger over the smooth edge of the giant, strait blade. "But I guess you can't do that. You're what, five feet tall?"

"No," Tsuki said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Just under."

Jaekobi laughed at that. Any normal person would be terrified of him; his hair draped over his eyes and he had scars across his face, chest, and arms. At over seven feet tall, he dwarfed everyone he met, and being built like a tank didn't make him any less formidable. When Kai first brought Tsuki under his wing, she had gone nearly a year before she would even talk to him. Once she did, it had only been a few months before he had become her favorite person in Kai's crew.

"Well don't let it get you down." he told her. "No point in getting mad over things you can't change."

"It's not that," Tsuki slid down the wall to sit beside him. "I just feel like Kai doesn't take me seriously."

Jaekobi stared at her. "You've met the guy, right? Half the kingdoms on the planet could be killed and he still wouldn't take it seriously."

"I guess," Tsuki looked out into the hall, imagining Kai laughing and cracking jokes as entire Kingdoms were being killed by monsters. _'Hey, did you hear that half the planet's dead? That's less competition for us! Let's go get drinks to celebrate!' _she could almost hear him saying. The thought immediately worried her, _that shouldn't be so easy to picture. _

Jaekobi stood up and put his sword into the strap across his back. "Well, how about I get your mind off of Kai's insanity; you down for some good old-fashioned sparring?"

Tsuki's face lit up at the proposal. If there was one thing that could help her forget her problems, it was fighting. She got up and followed Jaekobi out of the room and down the corridor to the sparring gym. Back when _Marian _was a transport airship, the area would have been where passengers could relax and take in the view from the large circular windows on opposite sides of the room. Kai had stripped out the benches and chairs, then tore through the ceiling to raise the height from ten feet to eighteen. Aside from adding some practice equipment, nothing much had been done; Tsuki could still see the boarded-shut doors that would have led to the rooms above, had Kai not gutted everything.

Two other crew-mates were practicing when they arrived. Desmin, the ship's pilot, was fighting with a long, collapsible poleaxe, while his brother Calum was using a heavy bastard sword. As was usual with the weapons Kai built_, _both could change into guns if needed.

Calum had the clear advantage. Desmin was backed far into the far corner, and it was all he could do to not get struck by the deep blue blade of his brother's sword. The fight must have been going on for a good amount of time, because Calum was running out of steam and his swings were getting sloppier. Calum swung low at Desmin's legs, but Desmin got his axe down in time to stop the blow. He jumped back and put his feet to the wall, balancing himself on the blade of his weapon. Desmin kicked off the wall and went sailing over Calum's next slash, landing on one knee. Calum spun around and tried to land a hit, but Desmin was faster, blocking every swing. Calum lifted his sword high, then made a heavy downward slash at Desmin's chest. The swing hit only air, as Desmin danced back in time to avoid the point. Desmin took his opportunity to hit Calum square in the face with the pole of his weapon. Calum dropped his sword and brought both hands to his nose with a scream of pain. Desmin hooked his brother's ankle and pulled, dropping Calum to the floor.

"Well brutha, looks like I win this time." Desmin put out a hand, and helped his older brother to his feet. "It's about damn time too." He turned to see Jaekobi and Tsuki watching and waved to them. "Ha! Did'ya see that! Knocked 'im right on 'is ass!" Tsuki couldn't help but laugh. _If Desmin lacks anything, it's definitely not charisma._

"Will ya shut up kid? You win once and treat it like takin' down god 'imself." Calum told his little brother. "Also, I think ya broke my bloody nose, try not doin' that next time." He picked up his hand-and-a-half sword and removed the safety edging that kept him from actually cutting anyone while sparring.

"The first of many. I'm getting better." Desmin threw his hands in the air, sending his halberd flying across the room. "The world will remember the name of Desmin the Great, the best damn fighter in the world! And 'is arse-'ole brutha who couldn't fight worth Grimm piss! I'll be–."

Desmin didn't get the chance to finish before Calum kicked him in the stomach and laughed as he fell to his knees. He walked over to Desmin's poleaxe and picked it up, coming back just as Desmin was getting on his feet to beat him back down with the staff of his weapon. Calum dropped the axe beside his sprawled out brother and stood across from him.

Desmin rolled onto his back, and stared up at Calum. "What the 'ell? Why'd ya do that ya crazy bastard?" he yelled.

"Well brutha, looks like the best damn fighter in the world can't take an 'it. Now, quit yer bitchin' and stand up." Calum ordered. Once Desmin got back on his feet, Calum landed a hard right hook into his face.

"Ah! Seriously? What the 'ell!" he shouted, staring angrily at his brother.

"_An 'it for an 'it, now it's time to quit_." Calum said.

The two stared at each other for several seconds. Tsuki looked back and forth between them, scared of what would be coming. _Oh my god, they are going to kill each other. _Suddenly, both brothers broke out into heavy laughter; her fear turned into a mixture of relief and confusion.

"Um… am I missing something here?" Tsuki asked the two. "You both just broke each other's noses, and you're laughing like maniacs about it."

Desmin looked over at Tsuki. "It's a rule we've 'ad since child'ood. If 'e beats me, I get to beat 'im later; it's a bloody good system; we 'aven't 'ad an argument since I was six." He wiped his hand across his face, and showed off the bright crimson stain on his hand. "It's also one of the few times the phrase 'bloody good' can be takin' literally."

Calum straightened up and put an arm around his brother. "We 'aven't 'ad to use it since we got on this ship, there's usually too much 'appening for us to get in dumb fights." he said, then playfully punched Desmin in the jaw. "But Cap'm seems to 'ave put us on a particularly bad course. We've 'ad notin' to do for over a week!"

"So, is that rhyme part of your rule? It seems kind of…" Tsuki began to say, but then trailed off at the end.

"Stupid?" Calum said. "Ya, I get it. It's pretty stupid. I was seven, give me a break." He pushed Desmin away from him, then picked up the poleaxe and gave it back to him. "Let's get off the topic of our childhood. What's the Cap'm say about us running outa fuel?"

Tsuki looked out the window for a moment. "He says he has a plan, but he's really just hoping someone shows up soon." she responded. Tsuki took notice of the red puddle forming at the feet of the brothers. _God they've lost a lot of blood._ "Don't you think you two should go get patched up? You're both bleeding a lot." she said.

Desmin put a hand to his mouth, and stared at the blood on it. "Oh, right. Well, I guess we might as well go talk to Dhana." He and Calum walked toward the door on the far side of the room. "I've got it worse than you brutha, you're 'air can 'ide most of the blood." Tsuki heard him say as the door slid shut.

Jaekobi put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I guess they're done for the day. Time to start?" he asked.

Tsuki nodded and walked over to the corner where they kept the extra equipment. She picked up two spare vambraces, checking them for any signs of wear. _They're not mine, but they'll do. _She removed her sleeveless, hooded jacket and pulled her knife from its scabbard. Tsuki admired the slick, black blade briefly before putting the protective edging on it. She slid the vambraces on and tightened them, then took her stance.

Jaekobi stood on the opposite side of the room. He had taken off his overcoat, and stood holding his humorously over-sized sword idly in his left hand. One side of the blade was strait and smooth, the other had a slight angle to it and was covered in sharp teeth. The entirety of the sword was a dull shade of grey, gut it didn't make the weapon seem any less impressive. Even though it was meant as a two-handed weapon and was twice the weight of any its size, Jaekobi could still wield it with one hand.

Jaekobi lifted the giant sword toward her. "Ready?" he asked.

Tsuki looked down at her spare arm guards briefly, then looked back up at him. "Ready."

The room wasn't the ideal size for fights, but it was the best option on board. It was only twelve feet wide and twice as long, with angled walls that made it awkward to fight in properly. Kai had chalked a white boarder about two feet from the walls and windows to serve as a 'fighting ring', but most fights weren't contained in it.

Jaekobi dropped the sword to his side and charged. Tsuki raised her right arm in time to glance his first swing off the vambrace. She got herself under the sword, throwing a quick jab into his chest with her left. _I just have to stay close. He can't hit me if he can't swing. _She rolled between his legs and kicked him in the back of his knee. Jaekobi faltered, but held himself up. He turned, and threw a long swipe at chest height. Tsuki jumped back in time to avoid the blow, then leapt forward and threw her foot into his side. Before he could react, Tsuki brought her right arm up, and smashed her palm into his jaw. Jaekobi stumbled back, but still held his ground. He hefted the sword over his head, and brought it straight down on Tsuki. Tsuki got both arms on top of her head in time to block, but still fell to one knee from the sheer weight of the sword.

Jaekobi began swinging faster and faster, not giving Tsuki time for her to get back on the offensive. He landed a blow on her thigh, and she felt her leg give out on her. Tsuki looked up just in time to see the flat of Jaekobi's blade slam into her stomach. The blow sent her flying across the room; she landed hard on her back and slid into the wall.

"Had enough?" Jaekobi said while Tsuki sat up, coughing. "I can quit if you want me to."

Tsuki gasped for breath, trying to say something. _I'm not giving up after one hit, I'm better than that. Now, get closer. _She waited until Jaekobi was a few meters in front of her, then flipped backward and planted her feet on the wall. She kicked off, rolled, then jumped into the air and kicked at his head with both legs.

Jaekobi raised his hand, grabbing her ankle. She didn't even have time to react before she flew across the room again. This time, Tsuki had a landing strategy. She spun in the air and cartwheeled onto her feet, then turned and pulled her knife.

They both dashed toward each other and began exchanging blows. Jaekobi was on the full offensive, giving Tsuki no room to swing back. She slid her knife down the length of his blade, and got past his defense. She delivered a swift jab to Jaekobi's wrist, making him loose his grip on his sword. An unarmed Jaekobi was a much easier opponent; Tsuki sheathed her knife and began planting her fists in every place Amber taught her. Jaekobi tried to block, but any time his hands got somewhere Tsuki had already hit and moved on.

After a quick succession of blows, Jaekobi threw a hard right at Tsuki's head. She tried to get out of the way, but couldn't move fast enough; his fist caught her below the arm and sent her sprawling. She spun in the air and landed on her feet. _Okay, got to try a different route. _She glanced up and saw some frayed cables hanging from the roof. _There's my route. _She leapt forward and planted her feet on Jaekobi's chest, then kicked off to catapulted herself into the cables, grabbing one.

Jaekobi looked up at her while flexing his sword hand. "What'd you do to my hand? I can't feel it." His hand relaxed enough for him to pick his sword up again. "Is that what Amber's been teaching you?"

Tsuki flipped upside-down to get closer to his face. "Yup. It's some old martial arts technique she knows. It's pretty awesome; if I do it right, your arms don't even work."

He laughed. "Oh, is that so? Why don't you come down and prove it?"

She didn't have time to respond before he threw his sword to sever the cable she was holding onto. She turned in mid-air and landed softly on her feet. Instead of facing him head-on, Tsuki turned to the wall behind her, then ran up it. Once she got halfway up the wall, she turned and kicked off. Tsuki rolled over the floor, and came to her feet just in time to punch as hard as she could into Jaekobi's stomach. Even though it felt like punching a brick wall, Jaekobi still lost his breath from the hit. He fell onto one knee, coughing. _I've really got him, he's not getting back up from that. _She pushed him over, sat on his chest, and pulled her knife against his neck.

"So I think I win." she informed him, rocking the blade across his Adam's apple. "Do you submit?"

Jaekobi took a deep breath. "Ya, sure. Can you get off of me now?"

She got off his chest and tried to pull him to his feet, but was quickly reminded that Jaekobi weighed over three hundred pounds. _This was a bad idea. _She fell over with a yelp and landed beside him.

"Wow, graceful." Jaekobi said. He sat up and grabbed his sword.

"Not my fault, I forgot you're three times the size of me." Tsuki said. She removed the vambraces and threw them into the corner.

"Oh, how typical. Did you also forget about your stupid ears? Why else would you think you deserve to be here?" Tsuki's rare smile faded quickly to an annoyed frown. _Oh great. He's here. _She looked over her shoulder to see Aren standing in the doorway.

Aren had joined Kai's crew just over a year ago, quickly becoming a beacon of hate to Tsuki. He was the son of one of the higher-ups in a gang Kai supplied and was sent to Kai to learn more about places beyond Vale. Instead of taking in the sights of the other Kingdoms, he spent his time harassing everyone else on board. He was particularly fond of using Tsuki for the task, never failing to tell her she was 'inferior' and try to ruin her life.

"Really Aren? Leave her alone, Kai wouldn't have brought her if she couldn't keep up." Jaekobi said. "She beat me; that has to mean something."

Tsuki turned to Jaekobi. _Good, he hates Aren too. _Aren always had a smug look on his face and walked around the ship acting like he owned it. _He seems a little too much like Kai, _Tsuki had decided. _All the more reason to hate him. _

Aren walked slowly into the room, looking at them as if they were trying to win his approval. "Please, I've trained at an actual academy back home; you've only worked with Kai's irritable little friend, Amber. Anyone who would train the likes of _that_," he looked at Tsuki, "couldn't possibly be better than those chosen to defend the world."

Tsuki clenched her fists, and jumped to her feet. _I'm gonna kill him. No one will miss this arrogant, racist asshole. _She only took a few steps before she felt Jaekobi's hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, he's not worth it." he said in her ear.

"No one will care, we can say he fell out of the ship." she snapped back. "They couldn't find the body way out here, we'll be fine."

Jaekobi had a different idea. "Well, if you're so sure you can beat her," he said to Aren, "why not have a match?"

Aren seemed to enjoy the notion. "I suppose," he said. "If she can stay on her feet for more than a minute, she might almost be adequate." He pulled his sword off his back to begin putting the protective edging on it.

Tsuki might hate Aren, but she had to admit he had an amazing weapon. It was a two handed sword, with two straight blades that angled toward each other at the point. One blade was a deep bronze and the other a dark crimson. A black chain was attached to the bottom of the equally dark handle, connecting the sword to a crimson buckler on his left forearm. Both the buckler and sword handle had a golden circle pressed into them. Aren claimed it was custom-made, specifically for him; Tsuki couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she couldn't get a sword like that. Aren of course ruined the beauty of his weapon by referring to it as _Blood Money._

By the time Aren had finished edging his sword, Tsuki had already put her vambraces back on and had begun spinning her knife in her hands. Her blade was not as spectacular. It had a silver handle with a piece of black gem in the pommel. The knife's blade was strait and square, looking somewhat like a long, thin meat cleaver. Tsuki made sure to keep every open edge of the knife sharp enough to cut steel, letting her slash and stab with it as she pleased.

"So, that's it?" he asked, laughing at her. "You'll fight me with a butter knife? This should be over before you know it."

_Damn right it will be. _Normally they went easy on each other in sparring, but Tsuki was planning to go full out. Her ability with using Aura wasn't very great, but she could use it to punch harder. _Much harder. _She flipped her knife in the air and grabbed the tip of the blade. With a flick of her wrist, the knife spun toward the wall to her right. She smiled viciously at the satisfying sound of it sticking into the metal.

"I don't need to use a knife," she told Aren. "Let's do this." She took her stance in the corner of the fighting ring.

Jaekobi was leaning against the wall to her left. "Okay, let's have a good, clean fight." he ordered the two of them. "Are both parties ready?"

"She seems to be, I suppose I'm ready to go." Aren said. He put both hands of the hilt of _Blood Money_, and held the beautiful sword in front of him.

"All right, fight."

Aren started just as Tsuki knew he would. He dropped his sword and used its chain to fling it toward her. _He's not good in one-on-one with an equal opponent, he's better suited to fight a crowd of easy targets._ Tsuki dashed left, hearing the blades of _Blood Money _bounce across the floor where she'd been standing. She planted one foot on a window, kicked off, and ran straight at Aren. He didn't even have time to get his sword back in his hand before Tsuki put all the power she could into an overhand punch with her right. The blow caught Aren square in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall behind him.

"There, I win." she said, smugly watching Aren try to regain his breath.

Jaekobi was laughing loudly; he walked over and picked Aren up off the ground. "That was what, four seconds? Looks like a minute was too much time."

Aren didn't find the situation as humorous. "You cheated!" he shouted at Tsuki. "You used your Aura! I felt it! If I used mine, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

Tsuki was about to agree to a second fight when Kai hurried through the door, with the brothers and Dhana, the ship's medic, in tow. "Aren, shut up. She'll kick your ass in any fight." he said. "Now, back to what matters." He walked past everyone, the spun dramatically to face them. "I, your brave and resourceful captain told you we would find a ship, and I don't consider myself a liar. I present to you our saving grace!" He pointed toward the window on his left. Everyone ran over to see what he was talking about.

Tsuki scanned the ocean as hard as she could, but couldn't see what Kai was talking about. _Is he mocking us? Or has he finally gone insane and actually believes someone's out there? _

Desmin vocalized Tsuki's thoughts. "Um… Cap'm, I don't see anything, are ya sure ya saw a ship?"

Kai looked genuinely confused. "Yes, I'm positive, a great big dust tanker, clear as day." He walked over and looked out the window. "Hmm… I seem to have been mistaken." he pointed shamefully across the room. "The ship's that way."

Everyone lets loose an audible groan and walked to the other window to see the tanker.

Kai acted offended. "Well I'm sorry, I was facing the other way when I saw it. I got turned around."

Sure enough, Tsuki saw a shape near the horizon that could only be one of the massive dust tankers that crossed the water. The sight of it lightened everybody's moods. Naturally, Desmin and Calum overreacted, thanking numerous deities and yelling obscenities at the ocean.

"Calum, get to the bridge and set a course for that ship, I'd like to get there in an hour." Kai commanded. "Jaekobi, Desmin, Aren, Tsuki, come with me." He started toward the door that led to the on-board hanger, not even checking to see if he was being followed.

Both Desmin and Calum were confused. "Um, Kai. Shouldn't Desmin do the pilotin'? E's better at it than I am." Calum asked.

Kai looked over his shoulder at him. "That's why I'm bringing Desmin. I counted four tiltjets on that thing's deck; probably someone trying to take the ship's cargo. If we're going to acquire them, I'm gonna need my best pilot to help."

Tsuki couldn't believe what she just heard. _Is he serious? We're gonna pick a fight with four jets worth of hijackers? And steal the jets too?_

Jaekobi didn't find the situation as ridiculous as she did. "Okay, sounds cool. We going to keep them or sell them?" he asked.

"Sell them, of course." Kai said, "My total operation is eight people; I don't need five jets." He brought his attention to Tsuki's spare vambraces. "Oh right, take these." Kai produced her actual vambraces from somewhere in his coat and tossed them to her. "I added more dust capabilities, your kunai will now carry whatever kind of dust you load into them. I also increase the amount of kunai they can hold by fifteen."

Tsuki took off her spare vambraces and put on the ones Kai had thrown to her. They felt heavier and were a bit longer, but they still felt like hers. Kai had even kept his promise of adding a design to them. There were a series of lines, curves, and circles etched into the metal in pink.

"Does this mean anything?" she asked, running a finger over the pink dashes. _They don't feel any different, it's like they're not even there. How's he do that?_

"It's an old language I know." Kai told her. "It's the new name for them, _Broken Thorn._ What do you think? Pretty good, right?" He giggled like a little girl while waiting for an answer.

"Ya, its good." she said, looking them over. "So is one named _Broken _and the other _Thorn_?"

Kai's grin disappeared, "That hadn't occurred to me." He pouted for a moment, but the moment passed. "Sure, why not? That's not all I did though; point your arms away from everyone, and clench your fists."

Tsuki did what he said; she flinched at the sound a discharge, and felt her arms jerk back. She looked at her right arm and saw a thin cord sticking out of the bottom of the vambrace. _What in hell is this? _Tsuki followed the wire to a thin disk embedded in the ceiling. She looked to her left, and saw an identical disk stuck in a window.

"I'm really proud of that one. Those are glaives, the wires retract if you clench your fists again. You're really fast as a fighter, and these will make you even faster." Kai said, waiting eagerly for Tsuki's reaction.

She clenched again, and felt little motors against her forearm whir. The glaives pulled loose and slid up into small sockets beneath her wrists.

"Okay, that's bloody cool," Desmin remarked, "ya wanna trade?"

Kai punched him in the side of the head. "No trading!" he yelled. "Those wires can only hold a hundred pounds, so they'll only work with Tsuki." He turned back to her. "The glaives also light up with whatever kind of dust you're using. I've loaded them with burn crystals for now, but we can switch them up later." He tapped a pink circle near the front of her right vambrace, and a small compartment opened up to show a shard of glowing, red crystal inside.

"That's pretty impressive," Tsuki admitted. "But what about guns?"

Kai put on a confused face. "What about guns?" he asked.

"Everyone else has stuff that turns into guns. Can mine?"

Kai sighed. "Tsuki, your guards already shoot kunai, and now can launch glaives. Anyone would see that adding guns would just be redundant and unnecessary."

"Can they?"

He smiled. "There are three buttons inside the ring of each glaive. Push them, and the glaives turn into automatic pistols." He ruffled Tsuki's hair, then spun around. "Now that we're done with that, let's go get us some jets!" he shouted while walking out of the room, the four of them in tow.

Part 1

Kai

"So what's the plan here? Are we goin' to ask them for their planes, or are ya just gonna kill 'em all and take 'em?" Kai heard Desmin ask through the tiltjet's speaker. _Dear god, I have to get him and his brother into some sort of accent removal class. I can barely understand them._

They had just taken off out of the back of their airship, and Kai, Jaekobi, Aren, and Tsuki were sitting in the back of his old tiltjet. Even though the four jets they were about to take were much better than this one, Kai refused to get rid of it. _It has character, just like _Marian. _I don't care if I can see through the floor of this thing, I'm not getting a new one until this one can't fly._

"I might be able to talk the pirates into giving them to us, but odds are we'll have to start chopping them up." He looked toward Tsuki, and realised her hood was down. "Hey, put that up. I don't need anyone pissing you off by talking about your ears."

Tsuki gave him a rude look, and begrudgingly pulled the snow white hood over until it nearly covered her eyes. _I may have been a mistake to bring her. She's not very happy on a good day, and having to deal with Aren this whole trip is just making things worse. I suppose she's not too pleased with me either; but if she can't handle me insulting her, there's no way in hell she'd let one of these hijackers get away with it._

It was Jaekobi's turn to start talking. "So what do we do when all hell breaks loose? Stop the jets from getting to that ship we saw coming in?"

Kai nodded. _Of course there's an airship, things wouldn't be easy without one. _Just before they left, Calum had used the intercom to let Kai know that another airship had come out of the clouds. _I have to assume it's in league with those jets until proven otherwise._

Jaekobi shrugged. "Okay."

Kai smiled. _That's why I like that guy. No nonsense, no "why are we doing this?" No complaining. He just shuts up and does what he's told. _He was enjoying the silence when Aren had to begin his turn. _Whatever it is, you obnoxious twat, the answer is either no, I'm not telling you, or shut the hell up before I throw you into the water. _Unfortunately, Kai either couldn't communicate through thought or Aren was too thick-skulled to hear him.

"Shouldn't we have some sort of plan? My father says that a heist without a plan is always doomed to fail."

Kai gave the biggest sigh he could possibly manage. "The plan is as follows: I talk to them. That doesn't work. Jaekobi and I kill people while Tsuki takes out anyone trying to fly the jets away. You make enough room to use the anti-material dust rifle I installed in your sword to take out the airship. All four of us jump in different jets and fly on back to _Marian. _We cook up some burgers, blow up some balloons, and have a party in the hanger. I chuck irritable pricks out of the bay doors for asking too many stupid questions. Good enough?"

Aren wore a frown. "Why does _she _get the important job? I can take out the pilots and shoot down the airship."

Kai was losing his patience. "_She _gets the important job because she has managed to not only beat the two of you today," he nodded toward Jaekobi, "but she's also the fastest out of anyone aboard." _She also took my gun without me noticing, but I'm not going to tell any of you that. _

"Fine, I'll take care of the stupid ship." Aren said, sinking lower into his seat.

"Good." Said Kai, finally relaxing in his chair. "Now, nobody speak until we get there. I like some peace and quiet before a bloodbath." _Now, how am I pulling this one off? I assume they're not working independently, and if they are part of one of the big gangs, there's a good chance I'm already a big supplier. Just telling them "Hey, I'm the guy who gives you the money to buy your stuff" is not going to get me anywhere, they probably wouldn't believe me. I have to get them to come to the assumption themselves. I have to be cocky enough for them to think I don't see them as a threat, but not cocky enough that they think I have some form of security. If I overdo it they won't even try to fight, they'll just run. _He adjusted his belt and began absent-mindedly fiddling with _Occasus, _changing the weapon between its four different styles. _If I am their supplier, those jets would have been bought with my money, so technically they're mine by legal right. These hijackers probably don't care about the legal system, but they might hand them over when they figure out who I am. That's also not very likely._

The jet jolted, making Kai realize that they had just landed on the deck of the dust tanker. _Okay, no time for second thoughts. I need to be slightly more cocky than usual; give them enough hints to figure out who I am, without making it look like I'm trying to tell them. Then try to convince whoever's in charge to hand over the jets, or just start swinging. _Kai got up and opened the door. _Let's go have some fun. _

Kai jumped out of the jet's door, with his three crew members right behind him. They stepped into the waning light of the day, and stood calmly as several dozen swords, guns, and assorted weapons were pointed their way._ Wow, they really stuffed those jets to the limit, there's almost three dozen people here. And what a welcome, greeting me like a villain aboard my own ship. Wait, that's gold! I'm using that for my opening line!_

"Well, what a welcome. Greeting me like a bad guy on my own ship." Kai said, scanning the faces of the hijackers. _None of the men here are in charge. I need to get face to face with their leader._

"This ain't your ship! This tanker's being held by the _Three Snakes_!" someone in the crowd shouted back.

Kai couldn't have hoped for a better rebuttal. _The _Three Snakes_, is that right? I believe I've channeled a few hundred thousand lien into their operations. Is old Sven aboard? Or did he send one of his 'Lieutenants'? _He began scanning the deck of the tanker. Aside from the four jets, the only things out of the ordinary where large crates piled up beside them. _There's the dust. Strange how they haven't loaded any into the jets. They must have seen us and decided to fight instead of flee. _He noticed a row of black husks that lined the cabin at the back of the ship. _Why didn't the crew activate the defense androids? Could this have been an inside job, or just bad luck?_

"Well it might as well be, most of the dust aboard will be mine in a few weeks anyway." Kai said putting on his best condescending smile. _There's clue one. Who would you know that handles the biggest cut of the _Three Snakes' _dust on the black market? _

"Really, you and what army? All I see are two swordsmen and a little girl. You think you can beat all of us with just them?" The _Three Snakes'_ speaker came forward. He had close-cropped blonde hair, cut to look like a snake's head and wore the dark green, sleeveless shirt of the _Three Snakes._ A coiled white snake over his left breast marked him as the man in charge of the operation.

_Perfect. _Kai stood with his hands in his coat's pockets as their leader came forward. He did a quick observation of the man. Three Snakes' _leaders are given that haircut and uniform to differentiate them from the common members. I don't think they'd be smart enough to plan ahead and have a decoy. _Kai studied the man's posture. _He's nervous, the poor guy keeps shifting his sight, not looking me directly in the eyes. His hair is also a little too clean-cut, so it's been shaved recently. The fact that he's got tan lines on his scalp makes me think he's newly promoted. _Kai flashed a smile at the man, and studied his reaction. _He seems overly aggressive. He's trying to prove to everyone else here that he's worthy of his title. He wouldn't need to do that if he were a seasoned leader, or got his title by doing something impressive. This is his first time in command of a heist, and his promotion wasn't for leadership skills._

"I don't need an army," Kai started with, "these three are much more proficient in the art of killing than any of this rabble. It would be in your best interest to sit down and wait until we're done here."

"What, give you all the dust on the ship, then just fly away?" the _Snake _asked. "If you think we'd let you get away with that, you're very mistaken."

Kai laughed loudly. "You think I'm here for the dust? How cute. I'll have some, of course, but I'm here to take your jets." he said, nodding toward the four grey vehicles sitting a hundred meters away. "So back down, and I may not execute some of you for obstructing me." That took the _Snakes _by surprise. Kai heard rumbling of discontent coming from the masses.

"I'm not backing down. The _Three Snakes _will use this dust to begin taking over as the top gang in Vytal! If you think you're going to keep us from our task, you won't be leaving here alive." the lieutenant said. His hand was resting on his belt, where Kai had noticed a poorly hidden dagger behind the tanned leather strap.

Kai almost couldn't believe him. _Did he really just tell me the _Snakes' _plans? He has to be trying to throw me off, he couldn't be that stupid, could he? _The passion burning in the man's eyes couldn't lie. _Oh my god, this is why Sven's little gang_ _will never be at the level of something like Roman's outfit in Vale. Roman does his own dirty work._

"Oh no! Your posse is going to become one of the big boys around town? That won't do, I'll be out of a job! _How awful!_" Kai said, blatantly overacting a look of fear. _Clue number two. _He could tell he was annoying the leader, and heard snickering from among the crowd. His own peons stood still and silent, weapons drawn. _Man we look badass!_ _Maybe I should start my own gang, I already supply most of the ones around the planet. If I cut all ties and started another alias, people would be none the wiser._

"Stop jerking us around! We've already taken control of this ship, nothing you can do can stop us." The _Snake _yelled. "Now, get off before we make you."

_That's it, nothing's getting through this moron's head. _Kai spread his arms wide, and started talking softly to the lieutenant. "Well, you clearly don't know who you're dealing with. I've spent most of my life facing much greater challenges than the likes of a second-rate gang run by a blundering fool trying to re-kindle his youth. I've spent years training to be better than a god himself." He lowered his gaze to meet the eyes of his adversary. "You believe making clichéd threats will stop me? JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!" Kai felt satisfied with his performance. _I love that line, it always ties a good speech together._

The lieutenant clearly didn't try to think of who Kai was. He yanked his dagger out, ran forward, and plunged it hilt-deep into Kai's stomach.

_Well, that was to be expected. _Kai gave himself a moment to fully understand where the cold, hard steel had entered. _Ha, missed any vital organs. Almost shaved a bit of my liver, but it's an inch to low. A shame, this cut's too easy to heal._

The _Snake _stepped back, leaving the dagger protruding from Kai's body. "I don't care who you think you are, all you'll be soon is dead." he said, with a smug grin on his face.

Kai put a hand on the handle and, to the horror of the _Snakes, _pulled the blade out of his stomach without even flinching. "Au contraire," he started with, while willing the wound closed. "It takes more than a knife to kill a Huntsman." Kai started toward the lieutenant, spinning the dagger casually in his hand. _Let that one sink in. _

The lieutenant was taken aback. "What? You couldn't be… why are you here? I thought Huntsmen protected the people, not stole from them!" Each word he said was dripping with panic. "You're supposed to be killing monsters!"

"I am." Kai responded with. He plunged the dagger into the lieutenant's chest, between the fourth and fifth rib. Kai pulled the knife out and watched as the _Snake _fell to his knees, clutching at his chest while watching his life spill out onto the deck. _I really shouldn't mock people for making clichéd remarks. That one was right out of a TV show._

Part 1

Tsuki

Kai had never told them any hint as to what would be considered 'things going to hell', but Tsuki could guess that stabbing the hijackers' leader in the chest was a good enough signal. She launched herself off the deck and ran over the heads of the crowd toward the tiltjets, landing kunai in the chests, heads, and arms of any who got in her way. Kai had indeed upgraded the vambraces; each kunai had a warm, red glow around it, lighting anyone they hit on fire.

Tsuki landed and ran toward the ten men surrounding the jets. She glanced back to see if she was being followed, but no one paid her any attention. She flew like a bullet down the dull, featureless deck of the ship toward one of the jets' guards. Tsuki pulled her knife and leapt into the air, planting her free hand on his head and driving her knife into his temple. The end came out the other side, and Tsuki let go of the handle. _No point in trying to get it free, the rest of this shouldn't take too long._

She landed on one knee and dropped four kunai into each hand. Looking up, she matched each small blade to a target, then jerked her arms forward and released them. Five _Snakes _burst into flame, half crumpling to the deck while the others ran, screaming in pain. Tsuki made fists and grabbed her glaives out of the air. She charged down the deck, moving faster than any normal person had the right to. She chucked her left glaive into the chest of one of the remaining _Snakes, _clenching her fist just after the disk made contact. The wire grew taunt and pulled Tsuki through the air toward her opponent. Her right hand smashed into his face, leaving an imprint of the glaive on his forehead. The man fell onto his back, Tsuki kneeling on his chest. As she stood up, the glaive in the man's chest pulled free and went to hide in her vambrace as the rest of the hijackers came at her. The first _Snake_ swung at Tsuki's head, but she ducked under the blade. Tsuki drove two knuckles into his wrist to make him drop his sword and landed a series of quick punches until the man collapsed, unable to move his limbs. She shot her glaives into the chests of the two remaining enemies, then used the wires to shoot herself past them. The _Snakes _spun, the throwing disks pulling themselves out of their chests. Tsuki turned to watch the two fall to the deck, clutching their chests.

_Well that was easier than expected. _The glaives clattered across the deck, eventually finding their homes on Tsuki's wrists. _Kai wasn't kidding, these things are awesome. _The distant sound of fighting brought her back to reality.

Jaekobi was the only one who finished before her, his technique brutal, but effective. There were at least eight dead hijackers laying around, most in conditions that made Tsuki a little nauseous. She dashed over to his area but decided not to wade through the bodies and dirty her boots. Jaekobi closed the gap himself, walking though the carnage while looking over at their other comrades.

Aren's sword was pierced through a _Snake,_ the bladed digging into the deck of the ship. He was fighting another gang member in his area with his fists, waiting for a moment to pull his sword back to him. He landed a solid punch, sending the man reeling. Aren pulled hard on his chain, yanking the sword out of the ground and _Snake. Blood Money_ spun around and slashed the man across the chest and he collapsed unceremoniously to the deck. With no distractions, Aren pulled his sword back and manipulated it into a heavy gun with a seven foot barrel. It produced a tripod, and Aren took aim at the closing ship. A bright flash exploded from _Blood Money_. A beam of light flew from the end of the barrel and went through the back hull of the incoming ship. A series of fiery blossoms appeared along the length of the airship, and it began falling toward the ocean.

Tsuki finally took notice of Kai. She and the others were good fighters, but Kai was on an entirely different level. He moved like the snake his foes named themselves after, dodging blows without even trying. One moment, he was opening the chest of a _Snake _with a bright golden sword, the next, discharging a shot from his silver revolver into the face of another. He had an absent look on his face, as if he wasn't even paying attention to the fight. _It makes sense. He's spent his life battling actual giant snakes, facing a group like this is child's play to him. _No matter how many people were swinging, not a single connection was made that didn't originate from Kai.

He cut down the last of the _Snakes, _then calmly slid his guns into their respective homes. Kai began addressing the group as if the fight never happened. "Jaekobi, go down into the ship's lower levels and find the crew. They'll probably have guards posted, so bring your A-game." He looked over his shoulder at Aren. "Keep your eye on the sky. An exploding airship is bound to attract attention from somewhere." He motioned to Tsuki, and began walking toward his four new jets. "I noticed you only hit five men, even though you had eight kunai. Are you having troubles with the upgrades I've made?" he said once she caught up to him.

Tsuki scowled. _Is he serious? I missed with three kunai and he thinks I'm not doing well? _She was about to tear into him for being too demanding, when something else entered her mind.

"How could you count the amount of kunai I had? I was almost a hundred metres away and you were in a fight!"

He reached the first jet in the line and began looking it over. "I didn't count them. You use the same amount every time; you always throw eight, and always hit six. I don't have to see you to know what you're doing." he said while stepping into the jet to examine its controls. "I'm attentive. It's one of the best weapons in my arsenal. It's why I can dodge a sword strike that hasn't come yet, and why I know your knife is still stuck in some poor guy's head."

His words rang true. Tsuki spun around and scanned the area for the _Snake _she had stabbed. The man was twenty yards away, spilling blood onto the deck from the wound in his head. Tsuki pulled her knife from his skull, wiping it on his shirt before putting it back in its sheath. She and Kai spent a few minutes checking over the rest of the jets, then reconvened with Aren just as Jaekobi led a group of sailors from the depths of the boat.

Kai stepped forward and shook the hand of the captain of the ship. "Hello good sir, you can call me Hood. It's an alias of course, but it's as close as you'll get to the real deal."

The captain was a man in his sixties, with snow white hair. His eyes were betrayed by his age; they shone bright blue with youth. "Thank you Hood. We weren't prepared for something like this, so we couldn't do anything when those hijackers fell upon us." He said. After a quick look around the deck, a hint of fear crept into his eyes. "I see you were quite liberal in dealing punishment."

Tsuki looked around at the carnage. _He's right to be scared. Kai goes from sharing a drink to cutting your limbs off in an instant._

The captain regained his composure. "Well I'll make sure that you're accommodated properly for this. The Schnee Dust Company won't see these actions go un-rewarded."

Tsuki's mood turned dark at the mention of the S.D.C. The company was known for less-than-ethical treatment of its workers, namely Faunus_. At least this means any dust we take will be stolen from the Schnee family._

If Kai held any ill feelings toward the company, they didn't show on his face. "Ah, so that explains your hair. I assume you fall into the family tree somewhere?" he said while rocking on his heels.

The old man let out a hearty laugh. "My, my, you're a clever one. Gregory Schnee is my name, I'm a cousin to the big boss. The radio our captors had gave mention of a Huntsman on deck, would I be correct in assuming that's you?"

Kai smirked. "Yes, a guess you could refer to me as a Huntsman." He quickly changed the subject by pointed to a line of robots lining the cabin. "I have to ask, why didn't you use any of those? They're top-tier defense droids."

Schnee let out a sigh. "They seem to have caught us with our metaphorical pants down there. We've been having problems with them; they were under maintenance when the hijackers showed up."

Kai's eyes lit up. "Oh, is that so?"

All four of them reacted at once. Jaekobi's sword blade spun and broke apart, forming into a gatling gun with five long, spinning barrels. Tsuki's glaives formed into handguns and pointed themselves toward the crowd of sailors behind Gregory. Aren pointed the barrel of _Blood Money _into the crowd, ready to kill everyone aboard with the massive cannon. Kai pulled his long, golden revolver from its nest, and held it at arm's length toward Gregory's head.

"What is the meaning of this?" Gregory yelled, stepping back to distance himself from _Ortus'_s barrel. "I thought you told the thieves you were a Huntsmen?"

"I'm more of a liar." Kai said, a coy smile on his face. He began addressing the rest of his new captives. "I'd like for you to begin loading as much of the dust as you can into the four jets here, as well as the one we arrived in. Once they are filled, go inside the ship and don't come out for twelve hours. After that, you may do as you please to try and catch me. Good luck, god knows you'll need it."


	3. Chapter 2

Part 2

Desmin

"Oh, I love ya ground! Let's never leave one-anotha' again!" Desmin cried while lying on the floor of the warehouse where _Marian _was parked. After the events on the dust barge, he had to try and maneuver five tiltjets into a hanger that was supposed to only fit two, then fly _Marian _back to Sherwood through a tough storm at sea. _Bloody insane is what it is. Kai might be able to fight a dozen guys at once, but 'e's got no idea how 'ard it is to fly this thing! _Even with the fuel they had gotten from the ship, the added weight of four tiltjets full of dust made for a tedious fly back to the block of abandoned warehouses that they referred to as Sherwood.

Landing _Marian _had been hell for Desmin. Airships were not built to land on flat ground, and the warehouse they used for _Marian'_s hanger only gave a few metres of room for error. _I ain't used to the weight o' the extra cargo, so Kai can't blame me for smashin' into the side o' the buildin'. _The impact left a long, bent shape in the steel of the warehouse. _It doesn't look that off, it works well with the piles o' crap layin' about the place. _Kai believed in "Appearance vs. reality" and made sure their base of operations was as crappy and run-down as possible. Realising this, Desmin leapt of the ground and wiped off his shirt.

The rest of the crew had gotten off a while ago; they were unloading some of the cargo and piling it in the corner with the least amount of rusted-out walls. Tsuki was pushing a box across the floor with all her strength, while Jaekobi was carrying two of the same boxes under each arm. Aren wasn't actually helping, but rather running his hands through his coppery hair, trying to get it to stand up properly. His brother and Dhana were working together to lift a crate and put it on top of another. _It's almost a shame Calum's a fruit, they get along famously. _He smiled and slicked back his hair. _Ah well, less competition for me. _He went over to strike up a conversation, but couldn't way a word before someone else started their speech.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU A WEEK LATE? I'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH SO MUCH CRAP BECAUSE YOU CAN'T KEEP A SCHEDUAL!" Amber screamed as she marched through a pair of doors, pushing them so hard they almost fell of their hinges. She walked up to Kai and smacked him hard across the face. "You need to get your head out of the clouds and start taking responsibility for yourself. Robbing a Schnee dust tanker, are you serious? Those defence droids onboard could have killed you!" She grabbed Tsuki and pulled her close, smothering her in her chest. "And more importantly, Tsuki could get hurt!"

Desmin began laughing, joined soon by his brother and Jaekobi. All three quickly shut up when Amber shot a furious glare at them. Amber was the same age as Kai, somewhere between twenty-five and thirty, but acted more like his mother than his friend. She had named her alias after the color of her hair, which extended down to touch her thighs, rather than just choosing a letter like Kai had done. She was currently staring at him with an angry teal eye, the other being obstructed by her dyed-black bangs. _This'll be good, an angry Amber is not fun to deal with, but it's fun as 'ell to watch._

"Hey, calm down. I came back as fast as I could, but the jets we got are pretty heavy." Kai said, rubbing his cheek.

That just made Amber angrier. "WHAT? You bought jets? How much is this costing me? You can't keep buying crap you can't use!" she yelled, letting Tsuki go. Tsuki stumbled and balanced herself on one of the crates, looking visibly shaken.

Kai smiled and patted Amber on the head. "We didn't_ buy_ any jets, don't worry." he said, trying to avoid the truth behind their origins.

Amber put her hands on the top of her head and began pacing in a circle. "Oh. My. God. You stole them. Those things cost three million lien a piece! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Stole is such an ugly word. We… acquired them after their previous owners met an untimely demise. Why's it matter anyway? The haul from this trip comes in at about seven million, now we just have about sixteen million."

Amber's arms dropped to her sides. After a brief pause, she spun around and walked toward the exit. "You know what, forget it. Do what you want. Don't listen to me. Get yourself killed, for all I care." Just before leaving, she turned and looked at Desmin. "Desmin! Come here!" she shouted at him.

Desmin felt his stomach drop into his bowels. _Oh crap, what'd I do? Is she gonna tear me a new one for flyin' the ship for 'im? _He pulled himself together, said his farewells to the crew, and took off after her.

By the time he caught up with her, she was already telling him what to do. "…just find the people who did it, and beat the living crap out of them." she was saying while walking through the doors.

"Um… what are ya talkin' 'bout? I just got 'ere." he asked. They stood on an old, cracked road that ran between the massive building that served as _Marian'_s hanger and the much smaller living quarters.

Amber grumbled under her breath. "Someone called Sherloc. Apparently there was an incident at a club in the entertainment district, and they want Sherloc to catch the culprits. So we'll start working on finding the people who did it so we can beat the crap out of them." She looked back at the hanger building, "I'd tell Kai to do it, but he's a prick and you're the only other person here I'd trust to do this." Once Amber finished the sentence, she made a horrified face. "Oh my god. The second most trustworthy guy here is an alcoholic grease-monkey. And he comes in behind a semi-insane smuggler."

"I take offence to that," Desmin replied, "but yer probably right."

Amber ignored Desmin's remark. "So you'll be heading out now. It shouldn't take you that long if you take the train. I expect a call in a couple hours with a place to start, can you do that?"

Desmin was finally on the same page as her. Sherloc was one of Kai's other aliases who made his name as a private investigator, and Desmin was Amber's go-to crewmate to play Sherloc in public. "Absolutely. Send me the address." he told her, then started toward the street.

"Hey, don't forget this." she said, throwing a brown bag at him. He caught it out of the air and walked through the high barb-wire fence that surrounded Sherwood.

Desmin took the folded-up poleaxe off his side and slid a section of the weapon forward. The axe began changing form, soon becoming a long, thin strip of metal. Wheels popped out the bottom as Desmin threw the skateboard onto the ground. He jumped on and went sailing down the road. _Man, I don't even get to relax a bit, I gotta run out and do crap for Kai immediately; at least I don't gotta fight somethin' crazy, I'm not good in a fight. _Kai had initially brought Desmin and Calum on to help keep _Marian _up and running, but quickly noticed Desmin's talent with machinery. Desmin now handled all of the flying, driving, IT, plumbing, and electrical work around Sherwood.

Desmin swerved between the few people that walked through the industrial district. The district had a lot of criminal activity because the police department was lacking a lot in the area, so most citizens didn't actively spend a lot of time in there. _As long as Kai keeps payin' the cops to be useless, the easier it is to keep tabs on the crooks._ He spent the next ten minutes humming to himself while dodging the sparse pedestrians and traffic, eventually making it to one of the train stations that dotted the city. He stepped on the back of his board and picked it up; the wheels collapsed back into the board as he slid it into his belt hook. Desmin climbed the stairs up to the platform, paid for a ticket to the entertainment district, and got on the next train to arrive.

The car he got on was nearly empty; a mother with two unruly children and a middle-aged man in a suit were the only others aboard. Desmin to the seat farthest from the kids, sliding into a spot beside the man. He unzipped the bag Amber had given him to take a look at what he had. Along with the usual handgun and dust, she had made sure to pack Desmin's headphones and a sandwich for dinner. _Dear god, she's everyone's mom, includin' mine. _Desmin shrugged, _Ah well, sandwiches are somthin' I can get behind._ He turned his gaze to the man beside him, doing a quick evaluation before he said anything. _I'd assume 'e's probably a businessman by the way 'e's dressed, but bein' in this part of the city might make 'im a mobster of some sort. If 'e's ridin' a train, there's a good chance 'e ain't a big-wig in either, so it shouldn't 'urt to ask 'im._

"Hey man," Desmin asked the man, "where ya 'eaded to?"

The man turned to him. "I'm going to a party downtown, why?"

Desmin sank even lower onto the bench. "I need to get off there, could ya wake me when ya gotta leave?"

The man clearly found Desmin an amusing specimen; he chuckled to himself before answering. "Sure, no problem."

Desmin slid the headphones over his ears and turned them on. "Thanks brutha." he said, then closed his eyes and slumped over, the music singing him to sleep.

He awoke to the man shaking him on the shoulder. "Hey, we're at the stop, you should get going." he told Desmin.

Desmin packed his headphones away and got up. "Thanks again, brutha." he said while leaving the train car.

He jumped the safety rail, rolling out of the drop and onto his skateboard. The entertainment district had a lot more traffic than the industrial; he slid past groups of tourists, people having a night on the town, assorted side-walk shops, and the occasional gang member. _I should be in the right place, most gangs don't just 'ang out around town. _He checked his phone, seeing twenty-three messages sent from Amber in the past two hours. The first told him the address of the club he was going to, another telling him who he was looking for; the rest were accusing him of falling asleep on the train. _Well, she wasn't wrong._

One Desmin reached the club, he saw what Amber meant by 'a situation'. All the glass in the doors and windows were shattered, with caution tape wrapped around the open spaces. Desmin got off his board and slid it onto his belt, then walked through one of the doors to find the guy who hired Sherloc. He found the boss at the bar. The man had close cut hair black hair and a beard to match it. He wore a clean, black vest over a white dress shirt and red tie. While his clothes were clean and tidy, he was in much worse condition; his arm was bandaged and he had a large bruise on his face.

Desmin walked up to him and held out a hand. "'Ello there brutha, I'm Sherloc. I'm assumin' yer Junior?" he asked while scanning the rest of the club. _Wow, this place got absolutely mullered, 'alf is burnt down. _"So what am I doin' 'ere?"

Junior took a shot of whatever liquor he had sitting in front of him. "Look around," he said, "My club got blown half to hell, I want you to bring the person who did it back to me."

Desmin was taken aback by that. _One person did this? Did Amber decide to start burnin' down clubs while we was out? This looks a bit like 'er work. _"Aren't ya in the information business?" he had to ask, "Seems kinda ironic that yer place gets burned down by a guy ya don't know."

"Oh, I know who she is, she couldn't get in if I didn't." Junior said, then waved his arm to show off the destroyed club. "But I don't have the time or manpower to look for her right now. That's where you come in."

Desmin grabbed the bottle Junior was having shots from, then downed a mouthful strait from the bottle. It was some kind of rum, a drink he could get behind_. _Desmin took another drink and slammed the bottle down on the bar. "So, is that all? Ya want me to track down yer girlfriend and bring 'er back to ya?"

Junior pulled the bottle away from him, clearly getting a little annoyed at Desmin's actions. "Don't call her that, and don't underestimate her. All I know is her name, but she can fight like hell." he cautioned while trying to pour another shot of rum. A few drops trickled out, but Desmin had drained the bottle. Junior grumbled, then threw the bottle lazily over the bar. "Just find her and bring her back to me. I will have my retribution for this."

Desmin giggled. "Did ya just use the word 'retribution'?" He reached past Junior, grabbing another bottle from his stash.

Junior looked defensive. "Yes, why not? 'Retribution' is an awesome word, it sounds badass." He quickly ripped the bottle out of Desmin's hand before he could get a drink.

Desmin pouted for a second, but immediately put a smile back on. "Why not just say 'revenge', or 'I'm gonna get back at 'er'? Why 'retribution'?" he asked.

Junior's mouth formed a scowl. "Are you actually going to help me, or just mock me?"

Desmin gave a big, stupid grin. "Little bit o' both." he said, "Now, I'm gonna start my search, who'm I lookin' for?" He reached past Junior again, this time grabbing a bottle of dark red liquid. _I don't know what this is, but it looks fancy._

Junior started to go for the alcohol, but quit halfway. "I'll tell you if you stop taking all of my drinks. That one's worth your paycheck."

Desmin looked greedily at the bottle. "Can I take this instead of the money?"

Junior muttered a curse under his breath. "Fine, whatever. You're looking for Yang Xiao Long, good luck."

Desmin yanked the top off his payment while walking toward the exit, giving himself a quick taste. "I don't need luck." he said while slipping the cap back on and putting it into his pack. "I'll get yer girlfriend back for ya before you can say 'when the 'ell did you swipe that bottle of whiskey?'" Desmin slid out the door and onto his board, sailing away from the club. He heard Junior swear in frustration at the loss of another bottle of liquor.

Part 2

Kai

Kai dropped another crate off of _Marian _down in the corner of his massive warehouse. _Man, this has got to be one of the biggest runs I've ever had. We still have a few dozen crates on board. _He and his employees had pilled nearly two hundred dust crates up in the corner of the warehouse, forming a massive barrier behind the relatively flimsy walls of the building. _And to think, a third of this came from a chance meeting with a Schnee tanker; I guess the world just loves me._ Kai stood with his back to everyone else, taking in the sight of all the boxes of the precious mineral. _Well, I've got some free time. I guess I should ask Amber about what's been happening since I left. _He abandoned the people unloading his ship to enter the second warehouse in their compound.

Amber had gone against what Kai always preached, the inside of the warehouse looked like a lounge. There were six red couches arranged in a semi-circle facing a large holographic television mounted on the east wall, the north wall had a comically over-sized kitchen set up underneath of a large loft that Kai used as his base of operations. The west wall had large shipping doors, and bordered a street. The area around them acted as their garage; two motorbikes and a black car were parked in empty space with Desmin's machines laying around them. He could hear Amber talking to someone in his loft. Kai walked over and used his Aura to help launch him up to the twelve-foot high space. Amber was looking up at someone on the massive scroll mounted against the wall, and Kai recognized the green eyes and orange hair of his favorite criminal in town.

"Hey! Roman! How's it going! We haven't talked in a month! We should hang out some time: rob a bank, kill some people; maybe go bowling?" Kai asked the infamous criminal on the screen, "Or are you calling for business?"

"Business." Roman said, putting a hand to his head. "I need you to help me with a project."

Kai leapt into his wheeled chair and threw his feet up on the table under the screen. "Well, you're in luck; I just got back from a run and Sherwood is filled to the brim with dust." he told Roman. "I'm assuming you've already got my monthly donation and are asking me for more?" He heard the sound of opening doors, guessing the rest of his crew were coming in to relax. _They better be quiet, I'm working over here. _"I'll give it to you of course, but first you need to let me in on your plan; I don't like being left in the dark."

"It's not about dust at the moment, Amber's been kind enough to supply me with what I need after my… less than satisfactory heist at _Dust 'Till Dawn._" he said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one else was within earshot. "A Huntress showed up and I had to bail, so I'm taking a little extra this month."

That lightened Kai's mood even more. "Ooh, you've got a fan-base forming with Huntresses now?" He was acting like they were discussing high-school gossip instead of criminal activates. "It only makes sense, I bet the ladies swoon over you."

Amber hijacked her own conversation at this point. "I've seen the videos of the heist, Roman. A little girl beat the crap out of your cronies. The Huntress only showed up after you ran to a roof."

Kai began laughing, "You got beat by a kid? Man, you're going soft!"

Roman didn't find the situation as humorous. "That kid wasn't normal; she was fighting way harder than anyone else that age. I'm not getting soft, the world's getting tougher." He shifted around in his seat. "That's beside the point, I'm looking for men right now."

Kai sat up in his chair. "Well why didn't you just ask? That's too easy." Kai kicked off his desk, rolling over to the railing that overlooked the rest of the warehouse. "Hey Calum!" he shouted into the building, "Roman's on! He needs men! You interested?"

He heard Calum yell back up to him from the couches. "No, sorry. 'E's cute, but I don't go for gingers, it's too much red. I can recommend some clubs downtown that'll suit 'is needs." A ring of laughter came from the others and Calum began thanking the crowd.

Kai rolled back into Roman's view. "Well there you go, I'll get Calum to send you a list of places to look." he said with a stupid grin on his face.

Roman still wasn't amused by Kai. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I don't need your help, I can do this on my own." he told Kai. "I'm just hoping you can help speed things along."

Kai leaned back in his chair. "Ya, sure. I'll keep my ear to the ground and see if anyone has some extra mooks to throw your way." he said while starting to spin in circles. "You've got to lighten up a bit Roman; no one likes a man who can't take a joke. I'll make sure to call you back when I've got something important, okay? See ya." Kai waved his hand, closing the connection between them.

Amber wasn't happy with Kai. "You really shouldn't piss him off, he'll tear you to pieces if he wants to." she told him. "Plenty of the smaller guys are already losing their patience. Someone called Wulf-you to assassinate Kai-you."

"Oh really? That's unfortunate." Kai said, still spinning his chair around. "Wulf can't kill Kai off and Kai can't kill Wulf. Send the guy a message from Kai saying that I found out, and make him pay us for Kai to not kill him."

"So what do I do about the other you?" Amber asked.

Kai thought for about it for a moment. "Have Wulf send him another message. Have it say something like 'you set me up you son of a bitch. Kai knew I was coming, I almost died. Pay me twice the amount we agreed upon, or I'll kill you.' That should work."

Amber rolled her eyes. "I can't wait for the day your luck runs out; you'll crash and burn in a spectacular fashion." she commented as she grabbed Kai's chair to stop him from spinning. "So what are you planning to do with the airjets you took?"

He looked up at her. "I'm going to put out some feelers for people in need of one and sell them to the highest bidder. The money from that is going to go toward repairs to _Marian _and more equipment. The rest of the dust will be going to the usual suspects." he commanded. "Have any new buyers showed up?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. White Fang has hit us up for as much as we can spare. I believe I made the correct choice in telling them all we could spare just happens to be proportional to what we're pumping into the cops that are trying to stop them?"

Kai smiled. "You did." he congratulated her with. "That fight needs to keep going as long as possible, it makes everyone else's job tougher. It's just so convenient that White Fang called me; asking to supply a criminal organization always sounds suspicious."

Amber let go of his chair, letting Kai begin spinning around again. _This stuff is too easy. Maybe I should go on vacation for a while. Go into the forests, fight some Grimms, and just relax a bit. _Kai's life had been getting boring. It was always the same every time: _'I need this guy dead. I need more money.' The people around this town need to be a little more adventurous. Like Roman and whatever plan he's got. _Kai was going to call it quits for the night when the view screen lit up.

"Oh, another caller? Let's hope this one's got a better sense of humor than Torchwick." Kai hoped aloud. He sat up in his chair and waved his hand to answer the call. Desmin appeared on-screen, riding through the entertainment district with a big, dumb grin on his face. Kai could almost smell the booze he was clearly filled with. _It's amazing he's still standing, let alone riding a skateboard. That guy can hold his drinks down._

Desmin's voice was as loud and care-free as ever, but had a drunken glaze over it that sullied his speech even more than his accent did. "I just left the club! That guy's got some bitchin' drinks in there!" He was holding a bottle of some sort of red liquid in his other hand while he talked. "By the way, this is our payment now, hope ya don't mind."

"Nice to see you're being professional. What did you find out about the people we're after?" Amber asked, pushing Kai out of the chair and taking it for herself. "I can begin a search for our culprits."

"It ain't 'culprits' sweetheart," he said even more incomprehensible than usual. "It's 'culprit'. Some girl showed up at 'is club and beat the piss out of 'im! We're lookin' for one Yang Xiao Long." Desmin suddenly looked up and their view of him shook aggressively. Kai heard a woman's voice curse as the camera focused back on Desmin's face. "Now I've never 'erd of 'er, it might be hard to figure out where to start-"

"Got it!" Amber yelled at Desmin. She had begun setting up her scrolls the second she saw Desmin, she already plugged in the name and got a face to match. "I'm sending you her picture now."

Desmin made a motion and his face lit up with drunken glee. "Whoa, she's hot! Any chance we could pull the wool over Junior's eyes and get 'er on our team?" he asked. Kai chuckled under his breath. _Drunk Desmin plans are always the best plans. If it can get him any closer to boobs, it's worth his weight in dust._

Amber had to come in and crush Desmin's dreams of meeting this girl. "Not likely. According to this, she's at Beacon Academy. Just started a few days ago." she told him. Desmin's face sank to a sullen look, but Amber didn't give him any sympathy. "Kai's going to like this; she seems to have just been assigned to a team."

That spiked Kai's attention. _I wonder if her time there will be better than mine- No. Not going there._ He walked over to the smaller screen Amber was using and looked at the picture on the site she had open. The picture showed off profiles of four girls, presumably the team Amber was talking about. He almost laughed at what he saw. "I don't know about Blondie and Red, but having the S.D.C. heiress on the same team as an ex-criminal is definitely going to be interesting. It's like a movie plot or something."

"It'd be a TV show; that seems like a lot of character development." Amber responded with. She did a double take and stared at Kai in confusion. "I get that you'd recognize Weiss, but where the hell do you know the other girl from?"

Kai looked at her with a smug expression. "She did illegal things, of course I know who she is. The better question is why Blake is taking classes to be a huntress."

Desmin coughed awkwardly. "So does this mean I'm off the hook for tryin' to catch the hot chick?" he asked. "I kinda don't want to break into an Academy and get my ass 'anded to me for the likes of Junior."

"Sure, I'll get this to Junior tomorrow, tell him it's not worth it." Amber told him, still looking over the picture of the girls. She all of a sudden launched herself out of the chair. "I KNEW SHE LOOKED FAMILIAR!" she shouted.

Both Kai and Desmin responded in unison. "What?"

Amber pointed toward one of the girls, a young brown-haired girl in a red cloak. "That's the girl who stopped Roman's robbery! I'm sure of it!" she said, leaning in closer to read the name below the picture. "Ruby Rose. Do you think Roman knows this?"

Kai gave her a look of derision. "Of course he knows, give him more credit than that. Now, can we get back to things that matter?" He looked back up at Desmin's oversized face. "Where are you exactly?"

Desmin looked around quickly. "I 'ave no bloody clue, I've just been ridin' around for the past forty minutes. If I 'eard right, Roman called? What'd 'e want?"

Kai put his hands together, popping his knuckles. "He's planning something big. He asked us to help him find some men."

"Did ya ask Calum about it?"

"Yup."

Desmin laughed a little too hard. "Good, ya can't pass up a joke like that when it 'ands itself to ya." He looked around again, then curved the sides of his mouth into a frown. "I ain't getting back any time soon, I think I might just crash in one of the alleys around 'ere. I'll see ya tomorrow." he said, then quickly closed his phone to sever the connection.

Amber tried to say something to him, but was too late. She cursed under her breath and stormed toward the edge of the loft.

"Where might you be going?" Kai asked her.

She turned and glared at him. "Desmin's my fallback for when you piss me off, and now Desmin's pissing me off. I'm taking Tsuki to the gym and working on her Aura." she said, then leapt off the edge, disappearing from sight.

Kai turned back to his workplace and began sifting through holographic files. _There's got to be something I can work on in here._ He opened a few, read them, and then closed them in disgust. _I've got nothing new to do, I might as well just become fat and useless. _He brought his attention to the still-open picture of the girls. _Might as well see what Ozzy's up to these days. _He began flipping through the pages, examining the other teams that had been made. _These kids look pretty decent, I wonder if anything crazy will happen to them? _He laughed softly to himself. _I doubt it, the only thing crazy that happened to me was Ras and Arya's... _Kai felt a sharp pain in his chest. He stopped himself there and quickly clicked off the photos. _No, I'm not thinking about that again. Ras and Arya are dead, I can't fix that._

Part 2

Amber

Amber landed on the ground, cushioning her fall with a glyph. _Today just isn't my day. I knew I shouldn't have trusted Desmin to leave a club without getting drunk. At least I can trust Tsuki to want to train. That girl reminds me so much of myself at her age. _Amber had been the reason Kai brought Tsuki on board. She had been living in the streets, stealing food from vendors, and Amber couldn't resist helping the scared little child. The years after, Amber had pushed Tsuki to be the epitome of stealth. She taught her to travel across building tops and how to run without making a sound. She taught her how to use her surroundings to disappear. She had tried to push her fighting style as well, but Tsuki hadn't been able to use her Aura until recently. Amber instead chose to teach her a fighting style that attacked the nerves of her enemies.

She walked over to the couches and saw her pupil enthusiastically devouring a piece of pizza. "Tsuki, I'd like for you to come to the gym. I want to work more on your Aura." she said, grabbing one of Tsuki's thick grey ears and pulling her off the couch.

Tsuki yelped in pain and jumped to her feet. "You could just ask me! I'd like to keep my ears on my head please!" she yelled. Amber was already walking toward the doors that led to the warehouse Desmin had rigged up to be an 'ultimate training gym of dreams'. She paid close attention to see if she could hear Tsuki's black leather boots on the floor, but couldn't hear anything other than the announcers on TV. _Good, it's become second nature to her now._

Amber pushed out with her mind; a glyph formed in front of the doors, exploding a moment later to push them open. She walked through the doors with Tsuki in tow, and entered the third warehouse in Sherwood. One wall was filled with basic weapon frames that Kai would build into full-fledged armaments; sometimes for necessity, but mostly for fun. Scythes, swords, spears, and hammers of all styles filled one half of the massive wall, while the other half held every type of gun imaginable. A large setup of drills, presses, and tools sat between the two halves, with a chest of powdered dust sitting off to the side. The floor space was separated into two parts. The first held Desmin's android frames, tools, and assorted gadgets. The second part was the only space in the room that was used as a gym.

Amber picked up an eight-foot long lance laying on the floor, and pressed a button near the centre of the handle. The long weapon began folding in on itself. Before she knew what was happening, Amber was holding some form of grenade launcher.

"He really needs to find a new hobby," she heard Tsuki say, "who's going to use these things?"

"Why's it matter? If building these things keeps Kai in one piece, I'll support it." Amber said, dropping the grenade lance on the ground.

"Why haven't we entered the weapon market? If Kai has any natural talent, it's building these things." Tsuki asked, while fiddling with a katana that seemed to have four different blades.

"Because Kai won't let go of any of these, they're his babies." Amber replied with. "Remember, he's a little crazy. I'm pretty sure he enjoys the company of weapons more than people. I once heard him telling his pistols a bed-time story." She picked up a wide, flat blade, and nearly dropped it as it clicked aggressively to one side, becoming a small sub-machine gun.

"A little?" Tsuki snickered at the comment. "He's the poster-boy for crazy." She kicked a multi-coloured naginata across the floor. The curved blade changed into a boomerang, a sickle, and a medium-sized rifle before eventually sliding to a halt.

Amber enjoyed Tsuki's company more than anyone else in the crew. She had even gone so far as to buy some of Tsuki's clothes to resemble hers. They both wore vests over sleeveless shirts; Amber's being a deep aqua and Tsuki's slate grey. Amber kept hers undone, while Tsuki's was done up to her neck. _She's a little too modest. I need to get her to unwind a bit. _Amber walked over to the only area of the building that didn't have junk strewn across, and started adjusting the bands she wore around her arms.

"Hurry up and get over here!" Amber shouted back at Tsuki. She saw ten large, heavy medicine balls lying in the corner; she used up a little more dust to push them over to her. "I want to get you working on defensive Aura; stand there." Amber pointed to a circle painted on the cement floor in red.

Tsuki walked over and stood in the circle, taking her combat stance. "Okay, I'm ready." she said.

Amber paused for a moment to think. "Not yet," she told Tsuki, then walked over. Amber pulled a strip of cloth off of her belt and held it toward Tsuki. "Put this over your eyes. I want you to sense where the balls are coming from."

Tsuki looked a little concerned. "Okay…" she replied with while tying the band around her eyes. Tsuki took her stance again, and a fait grey glow stated emanating from her. "Now am I ready?"

Amber giggled to herself. "Yup." _She's close. So close._

Amber slammed her foot into the ground; glyphs appeared under the medicine balls and they raised into the air. She drew her arm back to have a glyph formed behind one of the balls. Amber punched forward, and a black blur shot forward at Tsuki.

Tsuki's Aura lit up a little brighter, she leaned back to dodge the heavy ball. Amber started shooting the rest of the balls at Tsuki, but none connected. _She has no problem sensing the balls, but she's just dodging them' why won't she try and stop them? _It had been easy for Amber to do, but she always forgot that Tsuki wasn't her. _That's not going to stop me. She can't use her Aura to its full potential if she can't use it defensively. _Amber kept the medicine balls flying for nearly five minutes until one connected with the back of Tsuki's head. Amber stopped the balls, and went over to help Tsuki back to her feet.

"Well that was painful," Tsuki said as she untied the blindfold. "Isn't there an easier way of building up my Aura?"

"Oh absolutely," Amber replied, "I could just unlock it for you." Amber walked back over to the edge of the ring, getting the balls floating again. "Now, this time try to stop them from hitting you instead of just moving out of the way. Defensive training is just as important as offensive."

Tsuki didn't put the blindfold on, but instead stared at Amber. "You can just unlock my Aura? Why am I going through all this crap then, why not just do that instead?" she asked.

"Because if I just unlock it for you, you'll have no respect for the time it takes to do it for yourself." Amber told her. "Now put your blindfold back on, we're doing a few more runs of this."

Tsuki begrudgingly put the blindfold back on and took her stance once again. Amber returned to punching the balls toward her. Tsuki ducked under the first three, kicked another away from her, and jumped high into the air to avoid the rest. She spun while airborne, landing right in front of Amber.

"Try and hit me now." she said, staring at Amber with blindfolded eyes.

Amber hit her. Willing a glyph into existence under Tsuki's feet, Amber launched her into the rafters of the warehouse. She heard Tsuki begin cursing loudly. _Well she did ask for it. _The blindfold fell down to Amber's feet; she could barely hear Tsuki travelling across the beams in the ceiling. _That was a bad idea, Tsuki has a short temper to begin with; telling her I won't help her then launching her into the ceiling is just going to piss her off._

"Come on down, sweetie," Amber yelled at the open space. "We can try something else, how about some more aggressive training. We can start punching through walls or something." Amber saw a pair of bright pink eyes appear in the darkness of the warehouse. _God, it's like trying to coax a dear with her sometimes. Well, if the dear has anger issues and extensive knowledge on how to kill a person. Is that a type of Grimm? I feel like that'd be a type of Grimm. _The sound of metal upon metal was heard, and Tsuki appeared upside-down, a small wire sticking out of one of her vambraces.

"I don't care about the trials of trying to control my Aura." she said, staring angrily at Amber. "I've been training under you for seven years, don't I get a free pass for a lesson by now?"

Amber began thinking about it. _She does have a point, but we're so close to her unlocking it herself. _Amber closed her eyes, feeling out with her Aura to touch Tsuki's. _It's strong, but too aggressive. She's not going to have much control over it for a while. Still, it reacts with anger. I'll just have to make her angry._

"No." Amber said, "You're being pathetic."

"I'm not being pathetic!" Tsuki responded, "I've tried! I can't do it! You keep wanting me to use my Aura in ways that I can't!"

"So that's it?" Amber asked, "You've only used your Aura for a few weeks and you're giving up already?"

Tsuki was definitely getting angry; the grey glow had darkened to a harsh black colour. "I don't want to give up, I just want to try something easier."

Amber had a thought, but she hated the idea of using it. _I'd hate to have to say something like that and not have anything to show for it. _She could feel Tsuki's Aura pulsing through the air. _Ah, she's so close! I have to try. _"Oh, you want to take the easy way out? That's a very Aren response."

Tsuki's face immediately darkened. "I'm not acting like Aren, I'd just like a free pass for once."

"No, you're acting just like Aren; you don't want to work for it, you just want the benefits." Amber told her. She prepared to launch one of the balls at Tsuki. _If this works, it'll be amazing. If not, Tsuki might hate me. _"But you're right, you're not just like Aren. At least he's _human."_ As Amber said the last sentence, the medicine ball flew into the air toward Tsuki. The ball only made it a few feet before Tsuki's Aura released a cruel dark pulse. As the pulse met the ball, it jerked to one side and flew off into the wall of the warehouse. Amber and Tsuki both looked toward the dent in the wall, then back at each other.

"Did I just do what I think I did?" Tsuki asked after a few moments of stunned silence. Amber noticed that her attitude had taken a complete one-eighty; she was hanging off the roof, looking stunned and excited.

Amber squealed in delight. "That was incredible! I've seen Aura's do some pretty insane things, but that had to be one of the biggest! You should be very proud of yourself!" Amber congratulated her with. Tsuki gave a small smile, then her wire pulled loose from the roof and she fell hard onto her back.

"It feels weird, I've used my Aura before, why is this so much different?" she asked, panting lightly.

"Who cares? Now we can work on some really spectacular stuff!" Amber said, almost screaming in joy. _I can't believe it! My little Tsuki is growing up! It's going to be great having a fourth around here who can keep up, Kai and Aren are not the best kind of company. _She put out a hand and helped Tsuki to her feet. "Also, sorry about having to say that. Your Aura reacts to anger, so I had to push you."

"It's okay," Tsuki assured her, "you were right, to a point. I did do it myself, didn't I?" She took hold of Amber's outstretched hand and pulled herself onto her feet.

Amber was beaming. "Yup, all by yourself! I'm so excited!" She picked Tsuki up in a hug and spun her around.

"Um… what are you two freaking out over? Everyone in the house is getting a little concerned." Amber and Tsuki turned to see Dhana standing in the door, with a mix of fear and curiosity on her face.

"Oh, sorry. Tsuki sort of made a dent in the wall by redirecting a ball with her Aura. It's kind of a big deal for her." Amber told her.

"Really?" Dhana asked, not looking either of them directly in the eye, "That's pretty awesome. So does that put you on par with Aren? Not having to patch up half the people here seems like a winning situation for everyone."

Out of everyone Kai had picked up over the years, Dhana was definitely the oddest one in the group. Everyone else in the crew was loud and aggressive, but Dhana usually kept quiet and strayed far from any fight. Kai had come across her while on a smuggling run down south and brought her aboard after she cleaned and patched up a bullet wound Desmin received while running his mouth in a bar_. She's such a nice girl. I'll cut off Desmin's arm if he breaks her heart. _Thinking about Desmin immediately annoyed her. _I almost hope that moron get mugged or something while he's sleeping, he could use it._

Tsuki ran over to her and gave her a giant hug. "Of course everyone wins! Come on, smile a bit! Want to see what I can do?" she said, then turned to look at Amber. "Come on! Throw another one at me!"

Amber complied enthusiastically. The ball made it halfway to Tsuki before she lit up like a light bulb. It went flying into the rafters and Amber could hear in smash into the roof. A beam of moonlight came through a gap the ball made in the metal. Tsuki started breathing heavily and swaying slightly.

Dhana's eyes widened. "Wow, that's pretty impressive. Seems a little chaotic if you ask me." she said, looking at the soft, pale light pouring onto the cold floor.

Amber ran over and threw an arm around Tsuki. "Of course it's chaotic, Tsuki can use it, not control it." She turned her head to look at Tsuki. "We'll begin working on that tomorrow." Tsuki wasn't listening. She started toward the door, but fell to one knee after a couple steps. Dhana quickly bent down to help her up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, "Did you hurt something?"

Amber laughed. "She didn't hurt anything, she's tired. Doing something that big that soon is likely to cause a bit of fatigue."

Tsuki was breathing heavily. "Damnit, I didn't think it would be this bad, you and Kai never get tired." she said.

Amber put an arm around Tsuki to carry her toward the recreational warehouse. "Kai and I don't get tired because we've been using our Auras for years; you just started on yours a month ago. Don't worry, you'll get better over time. We just need to train it like any other muscle." Dhana got under Tsuki's other arm, and the two carried her into the other warehouse. The others was still sitting on the couches, all but Aren watching the trio enter the building.

"So what happened?" Jaekobi asked, "Did part of the building fall off?"

"Sort of." Amber told him, "Tsuki's Aura clicked, she shot a medicine ball into the walls."

Kai suddenly appeared at the railing of his loft. "Did I just hear something about Tsuki and Aura? Is she at full power now?" He nodded approvingly at Amber's response, "Cool, looks like Aren's going to have to deal with working with her now." he said, then slipped away from the railing and back into his workspace.

_Hmph, that was a bit rude on his part. This is a big moment for Tsuki, the least he could do is congratulate her. _Tsuki didn't even seem to notice, she was too excited about her new-found power. _Well if she doesn't care, I probably shouldn't for her. _Amber yawned and became aware at how late it was. She walked over and stood in front of the TV. "Okay people, it's getting late. Bedtime! Let's go!" she shouted.

The command was met with a cavalcade of groans. "Ten more minutes!" Calum shouted back. "This is the finals, I wanna see who wins!"

Amber sighed. "Fine, ten more minutes. God, you people are such children." she said while walking toward the doors that lead to the fourth and final warehouse on the complex. _Even after all the crap, today actually turned out to be a good day. _She cracked open the door of their sleeping quarters, then grumbled to herself. _Ugh, no one left any lights on, I can't see anything. _Amber flicked her wrist; a small character appeared above her hand, bursting into flame a moment later.

Amber walked past the rooms of the other crewmembers, toward her own. She looked through some of the open doors, glancing at her friend's living quarters. Desmin's room had clothes and empty food bags laying across the floor. His walls were graced with posters of bands Amber had never heard of and the "Huntresses of Vale" bikini calendar. Aren's room was spotless, with an expensive set of bedroom furniture inside. Jaekobi's was completely empty, aside from a small cot in the corner. _Kai's really assembled an odd cast of employees here, I hope he appreciates them. _Amber made it to her room and closed her door, then began shedding her clothes. _Although he probably won't even remember them after a few years, just like Arya and Ras. _Thinking about the rest of team SLAR gave Amber a sick feeling; even after nine years, she still couldn't get over what had happened. Amber slipped into her nightclothes and laid down on her bed. _Maybe I should take a page out of Kai's book, I can't stay hung up on them forever. _As she was sliding off to sleep, she could hear the others coming into the warehouse. The sound of them made Amber smile. _I've got a good family built here, I shouldn't give beat myself up over the past._

Part 2

Desmin

Desmin's arm was asleep when he woke up. _What the 'ell? Where am I? _His head was swimming and he couldn't even make out the hand held in front of his face. _Do I 'ave a concussion? I don't remember hittin' anything. Wait, who's 'and is that? _As Desmin slowly entered reality, he realised there was a trio of men standing around him.

"…Don't think it's that important." he heard one of the men say. "I say we just wait for him to wake up, ask him, and leave."

"Wait for who to wake up?" Desmin asked, rubbing his eyes.

All three of them looked down at him. "Well I guess you're up," a different man said to him. "How are you feeling, Desmin Vilcan?"

Desmin was still having trouble thinking. _I'm Desmin, right? Ya, I'm Desmin. Who are these guys? I think I'm gettin' robbed. _One of the men helped him sit up. Desmin immediately turned to one side and wretched onto the ally street. "Is that a good enough answer?" he croaked out.

"You seems to have gotten quite drunk, Desmin." the third man said. Desmin's vision began to clear; he noticed that the three men were wearing identical black suits. All three also wore a strange mask over their eyes.

"I can handle booze; no way I'm drunk." Desmin said. _Why are they wearing masks? I can't think strait. _Desmin began blinking rapidly, and his vision eventually returned to him. He looked at their faces, and noticed that each of them had small black lines in their skin, coming out from beneath their masks. _Well that's a little strange. _Desmin got onto his knees and steadied himself on a wall while he stood. _Did Junior poison me or somethin'? I feel awful._

"Well, as long as you're awake, we have some questions to ask you." The first man said. Desmin realised that there was a wall to his back, and the three men stood between him and any exit.

"Well sure, could ya give me a drink or somethin'?" Desmin asked. "I'm a little parched." The second man pulled a bottle out of his suit jacket and threw it to Desmin. Desmin tried to catch it, but missed the bottle completely. He bent over and picked it up. Desmin took a swig, then spat out the liquid and looked at the bottle in disgust. "Is this water?" He asked the strangers. "I asked for a drink, ya got any spirits on ya?" The men looked at each other; the one who gave him the bottle pulled a small flask out of his jacket and handed it to Desmin.

He downed the entire flask in one go. The liquor was unpleasantly sour. _What the 'ell is this? It tastes like shat. _The drink helped Desmin clear his mind a little. _Okay, so let's see what's goin' on here. _Desmin noticed he still had his bag over his shoulder. _Which means I still got the stuff Amber gave me. _None of the strangers had a visible weapon, but Amber had proven that someone didn't need a weapon to be dangerous.

"Okay, what did ya want me to answer?" Desmin asked the men. "I got the day to do nothin'."

"Well we don't care much about you, Desmin." Man number three said. "We're here to ask you about your boss, the man who calls himself Kai."

There was something off about what the man said, but Desmin didn't feel like trying to figure out why. "Well that's a bit rude," he said, "but I guess I can let it slide. Now start your questions, I got things to do."

"How long have you worked for this man?" Number Two asked. One took out a scroll, presumably to record Desmin's answer.

"I dunno, 'bout four years, give or take." Desmin responded with, then poked at his arm. "Do any of ya know why I can't move this?"

Two pretended not to hear Desmin. "How much money would you say passes through this man's hands?"

"We usually work through dust, a couple million worth a trip." Desmin said. _Wait, why am I saying this? I shouldn't be saying this! _"But we've just picked up ten million worth of tiltjets, so that's somethin'. Seriously though, I need two arms for my job. Do ya have an 'eat pack or somethin' for it?" Desmin started getting worried, something was wrong with him.

"Is that so? You came from somewhere in the city, correct? Could you tell me where that would be exactly?"

Desmin tried to force his mouth shut. _Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! _No matter what Desmin did, he couldn't stop himself. "There's a complex of rundown warehouses somewhere in the industrial part of the city. I'm not good with street names, but it shouldn't be 'ard to find; one of the warehouses is big enough to 'old an airship. Now, can we focus on the big problems? Do ya know how 'ard it is to play video games with only one 'and? I need this thing back!" Three made a humming noise while One tapped his scroll a few times. Desmin made the choice to stop trying to stop himself, and just to stop them. He awkwardly slipped his bag off of his shoulder, and undid the zipper.

Two saw what Desmin was doing, and reached into his suit jacket for something. _Ah, so they do use guns. Point in my favor._ "Relax brutha, just grabbin' a drink." Desmin told him. _I just need to find the 'andle. I can pull it and shoot 'em before they know what's 'appenin'._

"We just gave you two drinks, why would you need a third?" Two asked.

Desmin panicked inside. _Oh no, my plan's ruined! Now I'll 'ave to run from Vale, move to another Kingdom somewhere and change my name! I'll have to invent a new life and never touch a car again! Just live alone in the wilderness and only talk to the goats I'll have to herd for a livin'! _His palm slipped onto a solid object in the bag. _Oh, never mind._

"I don't drink water, and I can't live off one drink, I gotta get more than that in me." He said as he tensed his arm, ready to start shooting. "But I ain't gettin' a drink. I'm getting' one of these!" Desmin yanked his hand out of the bag, and began making shooting noises with his mouth while pointing a sandwich at the three men.

Two's mouth made a confused frown. "Are you trying to shoot us with turkey on rye?"

Desmin dropped the sandwich and averted his eyes from the mask. "No, I'm tryin' to feed ya breakfast!" He shoved his good arm back into his bag. _Come on, where the 'ell is that thing? _He finally got his hand around the grip of his handgun. "Time for ya to 'ave lunch too!" Desmin pulled the gun from his bag and discharged several shots into his three muggers. _Wait, did I just refer to shootin' people as lunch? What the 'ell is wrong with me? _Once Desmin decided what exactly would have been a good one-liner, he checked over the three men to see if any were still alive. Amazingly, he had managed to hit all three, even in his seemingly inebriated state. Desmin bent down to get a closer look at the scroll One was holding and threw up again from the change in height. He grabbed the device and shattered it on the wall beside him.

"Now, let's see why ya bastards got masks on." Desmin mumbled to himself as he slid his fingers under the slate grey face piece and pulled. What he saw shocked him. The dead eyes of the stranger where completely black, as if the entire eye was one large pupil. _Well that's bloody creepy. _He returned the mask to its home, wondering what could have happened to the man.

The faint sound of police sirens brought Desmin back to reality. He wiped off the handle of the pistol and slid it into the hand of one of the men. Desmin made him squeeze the trigger to allow dust residue to collect on the man's sleeve. _If I'm lucky, they might just consider this a gang fight. _Desmin got up and staggered out of the alleyway. _But once they take of those masks, the last thing they'll worry about is who shot them. I hope. _Once Desmin reached the street, he finally took in enough to realise the time of day. _God, its like, five in the mornin'; what the 'ell am I doin' out 'ere?_ He didn't make it very far before a black car pulled up beside him. The window rolled down, and a voice yelled out to him.

"Hey, Sherloc, you doing okay?" Desmin turned his head to see Junior sitting in the driver's seat. A girl in a white dress and too much makeup sat beside him.

"The 'ell was in that stuff I took from ya?" Desmin shouted back. "I've never been this 'ammered." It took him a few seconds to realize exactly what he had done last night. "Also, I ain't trackin' down yer girlfriend. She's a friggin' 'untress-in-trainin'. I don't do that kinda stuff." He held out his bag, containing the two bottles of alcohol he had taken from Junior and the vials of dust Amber had given him. "I'll give ya yer crap back to not do it, and ya can take everything in 'ere if ya drive me back to my place."

Junior grinned, and the back door of his car popped open. An identical girl to the one in front was sitting in the back, but was instead dressed in a crimson dress. Desmin shrugged, and climbed awkwardly into the back seat. He thanked Junior and told him to drop him off somewhere in the industrial district. He spent a couple minutes trying to hit on the two girls, but quickly gave up and slipped into slumber.

Desmin jumped awake to the sound of squealing tires.

"No! Don't run me over, I got a family to take care of!" Desmin screamed. He looked around and realized he was in the car, with two young girls and a bearded man in the driver's seat looking at him. "Well, a brutha and a girlfriend. Actually, just a brutha, and 'e don't even need my 'elp most of the time." he trailed off with, slinking down farther in his seat. Desmin took in more of his surroundings, and suddenly recognized the driver as Junior. "Ah damn, did I get kidnapped again?" he asked.

Junior looked legitimately confused. "No, I found you stumbling down a street. You offered me back my payment back if I drove you back to your house." He turned to stare out of the front window. "Although why you told me to drive you to a random corner in the industrial district is beyond me."

It was Desmin's turn to play the confused party. "I did? When? The last thing I remember was fallin' asleep in an alley, next thing I know, I'm wakin' up in the back of a car wit' a girl who looks like a stripper." Desmin heard a gasp, and felt a hand impact the side of his face. "That may 'ave been a bad choice of words."

"Damn right it was." the girl who slapped him said. Desmin made the decision to climb out of the car before he got himself into more trouble.

Once Desmin left the vehicle, it sped away into the distance. He took his time casually strolling from block to block until he found the familiar four-building lot that he had come to know and love as Sherwood. Desmin walked up to a small steel door and kicked it open, yelling a greeting into the living area. Calum cheered loudly at the sight of his brother; Jaekobi simply nodded in his direction.

"Where's Kai? I gotta talk to 'im about something." Desmin asked the two. He looked around the room, then added on to his question. "Actually, where's the other five of us?"

Jaekobi spoke up. "They're over in the gym. Tsuki unlocked her full Aura yesterday, so Amber is helping her. Aren's been forced to help out too, and Kai got ideas for new weapons, so he's building away. It is only seven in the morning, so Dhana's still sleeping."

Desmin felt a little hurt that no one in the group had bothered to look for him. He shook it off and ran over to the gym. Just as he entered, a large black medicine ball hit the side of the building, not two feet from his face. "Holy shit!" Desmin screamed while leaping back from the giant dent in the wall. He stared at the three people standing in the building. Tsuki was standing between Aren and Amber, with a blindfold around her eyes. Aren was hefting his giant sword infront of him, and Amber was launching the medicine ball's brothers at Tsuki.

"Is that Desmin?" Tsuki asked, then lit up in a grey glow that sent a medicine ball flying in a random direction. She pulled down the blindfold and waved at him. "Hey, did you see that? It's pretty awesome, isn't it?" Tsuki's attitude took Desmin by surprise. Even though she could be happy, he had never actually seen Tsuki in a genuinely good mood. She seemed exhausted, but was beaming; the glow around her was pulsing aggressively.

"Uh, ya; peachy. Kinda terrifyin' in all honesty." Desmin told her, nodding toward the dent. "Is it supposed to blow holes in walls?"

Amber answered him this time. "It's not supposed to; we're working on that now." She looked over Desmin for a moment. "Well, how was your night? I assume you've been mugged or something."

Desmin realised he wasn't holding the bag she had given him the night before. "Oh right, Junior took it from me. I paid 'im back for not trackin' down Yang. Apparently"

Desmin looked over to Kai's workbench. Kai had a mask on, and was working away on a large black weapon. The mask reminded Desmin of something, but he couldn't quite place where he remember it from. A blade sprung out of the weapon and Kai quickly hopped back from it.

"Hey," Desmin yelled to Kai. "I gotta talk to ya about somethin'!"

Kai took his work mask off. "Before that, watch." He pulled the black object off of the bench, and Desmin saw that the weapon he was working on was a giant scythe. Its handle was black, and the scythe blade was sliver; on the other side of the blade was an axe head. There was a silver handle of some sort on the length of the handle, and it took Desmin a moment to realise it was a gun stock.

"What the 'ell is that?" Desmin asked.

Kai was smiling like a maniac. "It's a scythe called _Dead Rose_. I was watching videos of some new students at Beacon; they inspired me to make some new stuff." He pulled a trigger on the scythe handle. A large bean came out of the head of the scythe and Kai flew across the warehouse. He dug the scythe blade into the floor of the warehouse, stopping himself from slamming into the wall.

Desmin whistled. "Alright, that was pretty cool." Kai shot the scythe off again, and flew back over to Desmin. "Now, I had something to tell you." Desmin leaned in close, "Junior had a drink of some sort. It was red, and tasted like what I can only assume heaven tastes like. Get me some."

Kai stared at him. "Is that really all you have to tell me?"

Desmin smiled. "Yup! I kinda forget what happened last night, but I remember that stuff." He walked over to work on his machines, "I would never forget somethin' that big."


	4. Chapter 3

Part 3

Aren

Aren was bored; he didn't like sitting around, waiting for things to happen. Someone had called on another one of Kai's aliases to help out with something deep in The Emerald Forest, and Kai had decided it was Aren's turn to play the character. The clients had picked him up and flown strait out into the wilderness on some sort of smuggling run; Aren had been told what it was, but he didn't care. The people who picked him up had told him that he was here to watch out for trouble while they waited, so that's what he did. _Idiots. I don't care what kind of illegal stuff you're doing, you don't go into a monster infested forest to do it. _

He sat high up in a pine tree, balancing the barrel of _Blood Money _casually on a branch infront of him. Aren could see his clients far beneath him in a clearing, grouped tightly around the grey body of the tiltjet they had flown here in. He could hear the calls of monsters far away in the woods, but none had ventured close enough to be of any trouble.

The lack of action had given Aren time to think. _Tsuki's catching up; I don't want her to catch up. _Aren had been enjoying his position at the top, but Tsuki finally unlocked her Aura last week. _And if she gets better at using it, Kai's going to give her my place. _Aren started pouting; all his life he had been stuck behind other people. _First my brother, then my classmates, and now this Faunus bitch. _Aren was always in someone's shadow, and he hated it. He yawned, turning his head to scan the edges of the clearing. _Well, this might just be some of the easiest money I've ever made. Whatever those guys have down there seems to be keeping Grimms away. _He saw movement near the far end of the clearing. _Damnit, jinxed it. _He leveled the barrel at the brush and prepared to fire.

Aren was shocked to see a man walk out of the forest, flanked by two others wearing masks. He adjusted the sights on his rifle, and got a better look at the three new criminals. The man Aren assumed to be their leader was dressed in a long black overcoat and was carrying some sort of briefcase. His hair was thick and black, sticking up wildly. The man on his right had a shaved head, with the orange fuzz of his hair just growing back in. He was wearing brown pants and had wide strips of fabric wrapped around his chest. He had a sheath on his waist, but it seemed too large to hold any kind of normal sword. Aren looked to the third member, then realized that it was a woman. She had closed cropped black hair and was dressed some sort of gold-and-blue armour. She had a long black chain wrapped around her waist that connected to a short, flat blade that rested on her thigh.

Aren lazily moved the sights from one of them to the other, checking to see that none of them had any kind of hidden weapon. Aren focused in on the leader's head, when the man suddenly turned to look directly at him. Aren almost fell off his perch. _How the hell does he know where I am? _Aren looked down at the clothes he was wearing. He had a heavy white jacket with sleeves that ended just above his elbows and a high collar passed his ears, under the jacket was a sleeveless black shirt and a golden bandolier. _I guess it's not hard to spot me in a green forest, but I'm two hundred metres away and up a tree! _

A loud noise brought Aren back to the task at hand. He moved _Blood Money _back into position and looked back down at the scene unfolding far below him. The trees behind the mystery guests began to shake, exploding into a colossal scorpion that barreled through the trees. _Damnit! How'd a Deathstalker get all the way out here?_ Aren leveled his gun at the head of the Grimm, and let loose the experimental weapon.

The gun half of _Blood Money _was a special system Kai had designed himself. The recoil would normally have thrown Aren out of the tree and into the next Kingdom over, but his rifle instead folded back on itself, the smoking barrel leveling with Aren's head before sliding back into place. The white-hot round left a trail of burning dust in the air as it sailed toward its monstrous target. Instead of hitting the beast, the slug suddenly split in two, each half sailing off into the forest.

Once the smoke cleared, Aren was able to see what had happened. The mysterious man with orange hair and mask was standing infront of the creature, a thin, curved sword held infront of him. Aren's eyes widened. _He cut my shot in two? To protect a Grimm? Do they have a death wish or something? _He waited for the monster to begin stabbing the people with its tail, but it instead walked toward the leader of the group and stood at his side. The leader reached out his arm and began petting the head of the beast. Things were getting to bizarre for Aren's liking. _So first I'm brought out into a dangerous forest to watch over some sort of deal, then three strangers show up, and one of them has a pet Deathstalker? What the hell am I doing here? _Aren's concentration broke at the sound of white noise pouring from his headset.

"Damnit! Why the hell did you shoot?" the voice of his client yelled at him.

Aren was not one to let someone tell him off. "Why the hell did you not mention your buddy having a pet Grimm?" he yelled back.

His client grunted. "We did tell you!"

"Oh, guess I wasn't listening… oops."

Aren heard another grumble come from his earpiece. "Just get down here. Ohe wants to speak with you."

Aren took a second to realise that Ohe must have been the name of this Grimm trainer. He flipped his gun around, turned off the recoil buffer, and pulled the trigger. The force from the shot sent Aren flying into the sky, sailing toward the group of eight that had now gathered in the clearing. Aren collapsed his gun back into its native sword form and prepared for his landing. Instead of pulling some fancy trick while hitting the ground, Aren put his hand forward and gave a textbook three-point landing, spreading out the force of the impact perfectly throughout his body.

"Hey, what's up?" he said, strolling up to the massive scorpion as casually as he could. "What'd you do to get this guy? I didn't know training a Grimm was possible." Aren looked up at Ohe and was taken aback by his eyes. Ohe's left eye was a deep bronze, but his right was strait black, no iris, no whites.

Ohe smiled pleasantly. "It wasn't." he said, "You'd never believe what I had to go through to train her." He walked up to the monster and began stroking its head. "Took me a decade to have one not try to kill me."

Aren was having a hard time processing what was going on. _Okay, if he has a Grimm, why am I here to protect them? _He looked around, taking notice of the people who hired him climbing back into their jet. _Now what are they doing?_

Ohe gave Aren the answer he was waiting for. "You weren't hired to watch over a deal, I requested they bring you. I have some questions, Aren Kastanéry."

The use of Aren's full name threw him off. _What the hell? I'm hired under one of Kai's aliases, how does he know who I am? _Aren didn't recognize Ohe from anything, but if he had Aren's name, he knew something important.

"What to do you want to know about me?" Aren asked.

"Oh, I already know everything about you," Ohe continued, "You grew up in the rich part of Vale, living in the shadow of your older brother Pallan. Once of proper age, you studied combat arts at Sanctum Academy, coming in second behind Pyrrha Nikos; you were pulled out a year early. Now you're working for a person who calls themself Kai, and you'll soon be stuck behind a Faunus named Tsuki." Ohe laughed quietly to himself. "You've always been second place; that must be frustrating for you."

Aren was taken aback at the way Ohe talked about Kai. _He said 'a person who calls themself Kai'. He knows that Kai is an alias? _Ohe seemed to be reading Aren's thoughts; he began laughing louder.

"I'll put your thoughts to rest. I didn't know if Kai was an alias or a real name, but you just helped me figure it out." Ohe said. He began pacing slowly; walking away from his monstrous pet, then turning back to step between its claws. "So Kai is an alias. I assumed as much, but I've never had an opportunity to prove it either way. So I have four potential candidates. Two, considering I don't believe Kai is female at this point, and you clearly aren't him."

Aren was lost. _He knows me, he probably knows who Kai is. I'm stuck between two people who are clearly out of my league._ Aren turned to look at the tiltjet his clients had flown him here in. The door was shut and the jets were powering up. He rolled his eyes. _Okay, I'm screwed now, aren't I? _The jet rose off the ground and sailed into the distance. _Great, thanks assholes. _He watched the jet fly off towards the city, soon becoming a small grey speck on the horizon.

Once the jet was gone, Aren brought his attention back to Ohe. "Alright, I think I deserve a couple answers while I'm here," he told the strange man, "just who the hell are you?"

Ohe laughed again. The sound carried over the forest, sending small birds flying. "I'm Ohe, but that's not my real name of course. Your boss and I are sort of like two sides to the same coin." Ohe pulled open his briefcase and took out a small injector. "Now, hold still. You won't remember anything that happened here, so I don't have to worry about you mentioning this to Kai; not like you'll be seeing him again anytime soon."

Aren put his hand to _Blood Money'_s grip, preparing to throw the heavy blade through the chest of Ohe. Before he got the sword off his back, the man Ohe brought had his sword resting upon Aren's neck. Aren frowned, but let go of his weapon. "Okay, fine." Aren said. "But since I'm not going to remember what's happening, can you at least reward my curiosity by telling me what's going on?" He nodded toward the man holding a blade to his throat. "Or telling me why this guy's wearing a mask?"

Ohe shrugged. "Sure why not?" He stepped forward and lifted the mask off of his bodyguard. Both of the man's eyes were the same as Ohe's right eye, strait black. The small veins around his eyes were also black, giving him the look of a victim of some sort of plague. Aren backed up, almost tripping over his own feet. "Grimms are our natural enemy," Ohe started with, "It's almost as if they've been designed specifically to kill us. Even their blood hurts us. Just a little in ours causes… issues." Ohe let the mask fall back over the face of his zombified compatriot. "I've managed to alter it into something, for lack of a better term, useful for me." He smiled calmly, then pulled out a small injector from the briefcase he had.

Ohe pressed the injector against Aren's arm. "This shouldn't hurt a bit. It's just like taking a nap, except this time you'll wake up in a prison, right were you belong."

Part 3

Tsuki

"Okay, try it again!" Amber yelled. Tsuki was standing in Desmin's machine shop, surrounded by androids Kai had 'acquired' from a train shipment. Desmin had reworked the robots to be used in training, and they now did whatever he typed into a control board he had set up. Desmin had made it a rule that the droids were to only be used for Aura practice, as to not wreck them. Tsuki had wrecked them; out of the dozen that started three days ago, only six were still functional. _This stupid crap wouldn't be happening if I didn't blow a hole in anything I tried to stop. _Tsuki may have unlocked her Aura, but Amber was right in assuming she had no control.

"Can she not?" Desmin cried from the control panel, "Half my crap is broken from 'er, it's gonna take me 'alf a month to fix!"

Amber shot him a cold look. "No. We're working on this until she either breaks everything or does it right." She turned back to Tsuki. "Now, run it again!"

Desmin grumbled in protest, yet still punched something into his panel. The remaining androids lit up in the familiar red Tsuki had been dealing with all week. Since Kai had taken her vambraces once more, and her knife as well, Tsuki could only fight using her soul.

One of the robots sped forward. Tsuki help out her hand to stop its blade. Once her hand made contact with the metal, the arm of the android bent in on itself, crushing whatever mechanical parts were inside. Desmin shrieked in panic as the shell toppled to the floor.

Amber rolled her eyes. "Oh, quit whining, you can rebuild it." She turned back to Tsuki. "Stop forcing it. You have to let your Aura flow more."

Tsuki punched another robot, breaking the frame wide open. "Why can't I do this? My Aura reacts to anger, right? Well I'm angry! This stupid crap isn't working!" She stumbled a bit, taking notice of her drained stamina. Tsuki stormed out of the centre to take a seat on one of the workbenches.

Amber came over and patted Tsuki on the back. "Calm down, maybe your Aura just doesn't work this way. Or it might have something to do with your Semblance."

Desmin cradled the artificial corpse of one of his robots. "Or maybe ya just gotta quit freakin' out. It'll be cheaper for all of us in the long run." He cracked open the chest of the android and began pulling out wires. "Damnit! Ya busted 'alf the parts in this thing! It'll cost me thousands to fix!"

From halfway across the building, Kai looked up from his weapon's workbench. "Hey, quit your bitching! The money from those jets Jaekobi and Calum are selling right now will get us enough to but a thousand new androids."

Desmin lit up at the suggestion. "Oh! Can we buy a spider-droid frame? I 'ave an idea I wanna try!"

"Fine, I'll look into it." Just as Kai finished speaking, a bright explosion came from the weapon he was working on. Kai flew back, but was able to keep his balance. "Ha, woops." He wiped dust and metal shards off his old jacket, then went back to work.

Desmin hopped onto a tool chest and looked past Tsuki, the piles of machines, and tables of junk to where Kai had set up his weapon paradise. "What the 'ell is 'e workin' on? 'E's been buildin' non-stop since we got back."

Amber sighed. "He saw some videos of the new students at all of the Huntsmen Academies. He has this idea that he can remake every weapon they've got."

Tsuki let out an annoyed groan. "What's the point? They'll never use them, they won't even know Kai's built them." She watched Kai just long enough to watch him put on a gauntlet and punch in the air a few times. Bright white shots flew from the weapon, burning holes in the far wall of the warehouse.

Kai flicked his wrist, and a pair of drills popped out of the gauntlet. He smiled. "That's number six!" he said to himself. He took off the gauntlet and pulled a hammer down off of his weapon wall. "Now for the seventh." He put the weapon onto his bench and produced a variety of tools.

Amber smiled fondly. "It doesn't matter to Kai; he just likes building crap. If he stops, his past will catch up with him; it might just be enough to completely break his mind."

Desmin leaned forward. "What exactly 'appened to 'im? I know you both know, but I've only been 'ere for a few years, I got nothin' on 'im."

"I'm not allowed to say," Amber told him, "Kai and I have gone through a lot. He took it a little harder than me; he decided that it was his fault for everything that went wrong." She suddenly chuckled to herself. "Did I ever tell you I used to have a crush on him when we were teenagers?"

Tsuki made a face; Desmin found the news so shocking he nearly fell off his perch. "Really?" he asked, "I find that 'ard to believe; I'd never pin 'im as your type."

Amber shrugged. "He was a lot different back then, a lot more collected. Kai took that away and replaced it with what you see here; it's almost a shame, he was a great guy."

This revelation sparked Tsuki's imagination. _I knew he was a student at Beacon, but I guess I always just assumed Kai was nuts to begin with. _She looked back over to the ex-huntsman-in-training. _It is hard to picture him as a Defender of the People; I wonder what he'd be like now? _Tsuki pictured a well-groomed Kai, flying through the sky with a cape trailing behind him and a girl under each arm. The idea made her feel uncomfortable. _I guess I'll never know._

Another loud noise came from Kai's workbench to snap Tsuki out of her thoughts. She turned in time to see him fall to the floor on the opposite side of the warehouse from where he had been working. Before Tsuki could even get off the bench she was sitting on, Amber leapt into the air and formed a glyph that launched her toward Kai.

"Are you okay?" she asked, helping Kai up off the floor. "You should really be more careful, one of these times you might break something."

Kai brushed off his jacket. "I'm fine, don't coddle me," he said, walking past Amber and back toward his project. "Sonic pulse generators aren't supposed to be used this way; it'll cause a lot of issues, but I might have a work around." He returned to fiddling with the hammer sitting on his workbench. He suddenly looked straight at Tsuki. "By the way, I think I'm finally done with _Broken Thorn, _Come here."

Tsuki took a breath and leapt backwards over the piles of junk that separated her and Kai. As she walked closer to Kai's bench, he produced a bag and threw it at her. She caught it out of the air without even thinking. Tsuki opened the sack and pulled out her vambraces. They didn't seem any different to her. _What did he do? _She found the answer in the form of her knife. Instead of being its usual foot long, square blade, the knife now had two thinner blades with a small gap between them. Kai had changed the handle too: it was smooth, except for a small bulge at the pommel.

Kai was looking at her excitedly. "So, what do you think?" he asked, "Do you like it?"

Tsuki was confused. "Um… you just changed my knife. It's cool I guess." she told him.

Kai rolled his eyes at her, "Ugh, get the handgun out on _Thorn, _you'll see what I'm talking about."

Tsuki did as she was told. The circle that made up the glaive's body split apart on one side, then straightened out into the barrel of a handgun. Two of the blades slid into place on the top of the barrel while the third hid itself inside of the grip. Once the weapon's transformation was complete, Tsuki realised that the gun was shorter than it used to be. She looked over the gun, taking notice of a hole in the bottom of the grip. _Oh, I get it. _Tsuki slid the handle of her knife into the hole. A faint click was heard from the weapon.

Kai applauded her ingenuity. "Congratulations! You've managed to solve a simple puzzle that I had to give you hints for." He turned back to the hammer on his bench. "Pull the trigger." Tsuki gave the trigger a squeeze; a bolt of lightning jumped between the twin blades.

Tsuki looked at him accusingly. "I thought you said you wouldn't make them complicated."

Kai smirked. "I lied; that's kind of what I do."

Desmin climbed past his machines to take a closer look at _Broken Thorn. _"Man, this thing's some next-level stuff! I assume the handle breaks the connection between the gun's discharger and the energy comin' from the wire. Are they loaded with lightin' dust now, or did ya use a convertor?"

Kai shot Desmin a smug look. "I reloaded them, a converter takes up to much space and has a delay." He turned his attention back to the hammer on his bench. "This thing's getting two pulse generators on each end. They activate when the pressure switches inside the hammer's head click after you've put enough force on them."

Desmin couldn't contain his excitement over whatever Kai was talking about. "That's gonna cause some pretty insane recoil, what ya got planned for that?" He walked past a confused Tsuki and Amber to look over Kai's build project.

The girls looked at each other, exchanging a glance that said _"what the hell are they talking about?" _They left the two boys alone, moving over to the open area to train with the medicine balls. The slamming of a door brought everyone's attention to Dhana, who had just stumbled into the gym.

It always to Tsuki by surprise to see how much hairDhana actually had; when it wasn't in a tight braid, it made a massive nest on top of her head. Dhana yawned, then parted the locks that had fallen over her face. Upon realising everyone's eyes were on her, Dhana's face immediately changed to a bright shade of red.

"Oh sorry, I didn't realise anyone was in here," she apologized, staring at the feet of everyone in the room.

"Don't worry," Amber consoled her with, "it is only noon."

Dhana was shocked at Amber's words. "It's already noon? Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

Desmin's hand shot enthusiastically into the air. "Oh, oh! Pick me!" he shouted. "We tried to wake ya, but yer not exactly a mornin' person. We tried for about twenty minutes, then gave up and decided to go 'ave waffles instead."

Dhana looked a little hurt by Desmin's comment. "Well you could have tried harder; I like waffles…" She trailed off the end of her sentence to stare at the floor infront of her.

Amber laughed, "There's still some left; you can reheat them if you want to." Dhana thanked her and scurried off toward living quarters. Once she left, Amber turned back to Tsuki. "Okay, let's do some more training. Get your blindfold on."

Tsuki grumbled, but did as she was told. With her sight gone, Tsuki had to listen to her surroundings and imagine what everything looked like. It was something she was good at. _Being a Faunus really does have its advantages. _Tsuki focused; the images in her mind became sharper as her Aura reinforced her senses.

"Ready?" Amber asked. The sound of her voice, her shoes on the concrete, and the slight jingle of her belt gave Tsuki Amber's location in the room.

She took a deep breath. "Ready." The heavy spheres that surrounded Tsuki lifted off the ground, then began flying toward her. Tsuki began ducking and spinning in place. After a few moments, she was able to feel the rhythm of the wind rushing past her. She began moving in time, keeping herself out of the paths of the large projectiles. After dancing around the balls for several minutes, one managed to catch her in the small of her back. The mental images in Tsuki's mind shattered as she toppled over.

As Tsuki took off the blindfold, Amber held out her hand to help Tsuki back on her feet. "You okay?" she asked.

Tsuki took notice of Amber's slightly labored breathing, and smiled to herself. _Look at that, I'm tiring her out now too. _Tsuki stretched, testing the muscles of her back. "Ya, I'm good," she responded.

Amber gave a proud smile. "Good," she said, "let's start again."

Part 3

Ohe

Ohe was standing calmly on the back of Serket while she plowed through the undergrowth of the forest. _Well this month has definitely been eventful: I overhear a call about a smuggler under the alias of Hood who hijacked a ship, and then I find out that smuggler is none other than Sol… Kai. _He made sure not to think of Kai as who he had been, it didn't feel right_. _He dropped his gaze to the tied up body of Kai's minion, Aren. _I'll just send him into the hands of one of his father's enemies; either Mr. Kastanéry will pay his ransom, Kai will do something to get him back, or the boy dies slowly and painfully. _

"Sir," Ohe heard his female thrall begin to say, "We're getting close to the sanctuary; about five minutes out." The woman was perched on a branch above his head, keeping watch for enemies Ohe knew weren't around.

"Yes, thank you for the information," he told the woman, waving her away. She nodded, then bolted away into the foliage. Ohe began thinking over his use of the two pawns he had. _When I created them I had no idea I'd be living so easily. I should've tried to make them less professional; maybe had one cook. _He shook his head to clear himself of the thought. _No matter; I made them what they are, so I just have to deal with the consequences._

After a few more minutes, Serket finally left the maze of trees and bushes. She crawled through a small clearing to an old temple entrance carved into the side of a cliff. At the mouth of the temple was Ohe's male thrall, standing still and silent as Ohe approached. Once Serket made it to the doorway, Ohe leapt off her back while the thrall picked up the limp body of Aren. As the two entered the temple, Ohe waved back at his Deathstalker, telling her to go out and hunt for the time being.

"So? What've you got for me?" Ohe asked the man. "I assume that an offering of Kastanéry's son has drawn some form of response."

"Yes sir," the man responded with. "The Vale police department has requested he be turned in for incarceration. They say refusal is obstruction of justice; you will be arrested."

Ohe didn't like the news at all. _Damnit! The police won't give him a ransom and Vale doesn't have a death penalty; Kai is going to be able to figure out a way to get him back._ Ohe thought over multiple scenarios until he stumbled upon one he deemed acceptable. "Very well," he said, "bring him to the police; preferably today. While in town, I want you to make a stop." Ohe pulled out a scroll and wrote down his directions. "Here you go. Just do what I've got written down."

The man took it without question. As he jogged away, Aren still slung over his back, Ohe started putting pieces together for his next move. _Kai wouldn't break the boy out anyway, but he would still be the one to make the plan. This should put pressure on his second-in-command to come up with something to not only get Kastanéry out of prison, but also not look connected. _He walked deep into the temple until he came to the large square room in the centre of his base of operations. Ohe picked a scroll up off a table and began flipping through files._ They'll have to call in help, but I don't know who; Kai has so many connections I can't narrow down my search. _After ten minutes of fruitless searching, Ohe dropped the scroll back down on the table. _I'll just have to let them make this move without my knowledge. Oh how I hate not knowing things._ He walked over to the far wall in the room. It was plastered with photos and illustrations of nearly every member of organized crime; lines drawn between them in different colours.

Ohe had spent a decade building profiles of criminals, and Kai had been the only one whose identity had always been out of his grasp. At least until he made the mistake of robbing a Schnee dust tanker. The accounts of the crew had given four descriptions: a green-haired man with large revolvers, a massive man with a large sword, a teenaged boy with an ornate blade, and a young girl using some sort of handgun contraption. If not for the girl, Ohe may have passed on the report all together. The girl's description was so unique, Ohe had no trouble tracking down the girl's true name. _Tsuki Shigami, detained eight years ago for theft, no confirmed sightings since; presumed dead. _Her appearance was tied to several small-time crooks around Vale; all crooks Ohe knew had connections with Kai.

That had come as a pleasant surprise to Ohe. _Kai was aboard that ship. One of those four is Kai. _With that knowledge, Ohe restarted his investigation of Kai with renewed gusto. _These four have been playing the parts of so many criminals, nearly an eighth of my wall is either working for them, working with them, or actually them. _Digging deeper into this web, Ohe found the identities of two of the other hijackers: Jaekobi (last name unknown) and Aren Kastanéry, both wanted for numerous counts of theft, fraud, extortion, and murder. Ohe traced his finger along the path that had finally brought him to the point he was at now. _Desmin and Calum Vilcan, reported missing four years ago; presumed dead. Dhana Balūta, reported missing three years ago; presumed dead. These three have some part in Kai's game, but I haven't placed it yet._

Despite all of this information, the identity of Kai had still eluded Ohe. An interrogation of Desmin had not given Ohe the information he had hoped for, but Aren had managed to fill in the pieces Ohe was missing. _So Kai is male, late twenties to early thirties, has green hair, and possesses an abnormally potent healing Semblance. _Ohe almost couldn't contain his joy at the revelation. _Kai is the huntsman-in-training who disappeared eleven years ago. _He went over to the blacked-out box that had "Kai" written inside it. Ohe pulled out a pen and wrote Kai's true name under the box, then picked up the profile of the man he finally knew was Kai.

Ohe stood back to admire his work. _This looks like something out of a psychopath's house. _He had tried to keep everything neat and orderly, but years of reworking the wall after a leader died, a new gang formed, or someone was jailed had made Ohe need to rework his entire setup several times.

Ohe smiled. For the first time in nearly six years, he had the upper hand. Tracing Kai had become an obsession, and now Ohe was finally ahead of his formerly nameless adversary. _If my thrall does it right, my move will be made. It's up to the rest of the Sherwood team as to when I'll have to make my next one._

Part 3

Calum

While Jaekobi scared the living hell out of the men buying their jets, Calum was busy planting bugs under the guise of quality inspection. _I don't even know why 'e needs this. These guys aren't criminals, they're just some shady businessmen. _The four jets were parked in a row, sitting silently on the cracked pavement of the parking lot Kai had set up as their meeting point. It wasn't surprising that it had only taken four days since Kai put out a notice that the jets were for sale before someone took up the offer; they were dirt cheap since Kai hadn't needed to actually buy them.

The first of the pair to show up disappointed Calum. He was small of stature and a stomach that boasted many large meals. The wisps of black hair that clung to the sides of his head announced his age far before Calum could even take notice of the wrinkles that covered his face. His accomplice sat much better in Calum's opinion; he was young enough to be the later man's son and shared the same dark hair colour, but that's where the similarities ended. He stood tall and proud, his hair cropped close. Calum could guess he did his fair share of heavy lifting; even hidden under his suit, the man was well muscled.

The two had arrived mere minutes apart, while Jaekobi was still flying the fourth jet over to their meeting spot. The short man displayed his knowledge of counting almost immediately. "What kind of games are you trying to pull, kid?" the smaller man had asked. "I thought you were here to sell me four jets!"

Calum had looked up casually from the book he had been reading. "Don't get yer panties in a twist, brutha. The fourth one's bein' flown over right now."

The man hadn't seemed to care for Calum's attitude. "How dare he speak like that to me," he said quietly to his accomplice, unaware that Calum could still hear him. "My purchase will give this scum more money than he's seen all year."

His accomplice had spoken ever more softly, yet Calum could still pick out his words. "I wouldn't be so sure, sir. We were warned this man has connections to some major underground groups; he might be worth more than we are." The second man turned to speak with Calum directly, "I'm sorry about my colleague's outburst, we shall wait here until the fourth one arrives."

Calum smiled approvingly, "Well thank ya for yer much kinder approach. Perhaps after this ya might take some time off to meet me for a drink?" Calum took notice of the man's uncomfortable refusal. "Ah, I see someone's strait as an arrow," he said to himself.

The small man spent his time waiting by trying to broker a discount; words that fell upon uncaring ears. He continued until Jaekobi arrived; the sight of the seven-foot monster of a man made the ugly little man shut up.

"Okay. Seven million lien, right there," he announced, holding open a briefcase full of money. "That's the amount we agreed upon, right?" Calum could tell the man was scared, and for good reason. When Jaekobi wanted to, his normally calm and collected personality was replaced by a cold, heartless one that could make anyone feel nervous. He was doing so at the moment; his jaw and fists clenched; a steely gleam in his eyes that gave everyone a feeling of dread.

Jaekobi nodded, reaching out one of his massive hands to grab the case. The man flinched slightly at the movement, but quickly realised Jaekobi was only reaching for the money. He almost threw the case into Jaekobi's outstretched palm.

"Is it all here?" Jaekobi asked. If Calum could count on anything, it would be Jaekobi's ability to intimidate people, the two men were nearly pissing themselves in fear.

"Oh, absolutely!" the man replied, trying to avert his gaze from Jaekobi's, "I'd never think of trying to stiff you!"

"Good," Jaekobi said, "because if we had a problem…" He pulled his massive meat cleaver off his back and clicked something on the handle. The top three quarters of the blade suddenly split into five equal parts, closing in to form a circle of long, metal tubes. The rest of the blade compressed together, becoming a thick stock for his newly-formed mini-gun. Jaekobi casually waved the barrels around using his left arm, while counting the lien in the briefcase he had on his right. After a deliberately silent minute, Jaekobi reformed his sword, slid it onto his back, and closed the briefcase. "Very well, enjoy your new airjets," he said, motioning to Calum for the keys.

Calum got out of the jet and tossed the jets' keys leisurely to the good-looking man. He caught them, handed one to his colleague, and started toward the first jet in the line as quickly as possible. "Pleasure doing business with you," he forced out, then climbed into the jet to get as far from Jaekobi as possible. "We will be back for the others, you may leave."

"No problem, brutha," Calum yelled out as the first jet left the pavement. Once both jets were a good distance away, he turned to Jaekobi. "Oh my god, did ya see the looks on their faces when ya got 'ere?" he let out a loud laugh.

Jaekobi was laughing too. "What did you do before I got here? That taller one seemed so uncomfortable," he asked.

Calum shrugged. "I may 'ave 'it on 'im a little."

"You're such a slut."

"I know." Calum patted Jaekobi on the back, then started toward the road. "We should probably start 'eadin' back."

They had spent so much time trying to figure out how to use two people to get four jets to the meeting place, they had forgot to plan a way for them to get back to Sherwood. It took them nearly two hours of walking to make it back to the complex. Walking through the district with seven million lien would have normally been a bad idea, but Jaekobi's size and weapon were enough to dishearten any who would think about jumping them.

Calum burst through the door, letting out a carefree salutation to everyone inside the lounge. He quickly realised that this wasn't the time for a cheery attitude. Everyone in the group was clustered around the large television, listening intently to what was being said. "Um… what's goin' on?" he asked, walking over to see the screen.

He saw they were watching the Vale News Network, and heard the final words of the report. "…Aren Kastanéry, who is believed to be receiving a life sentence." His eyes widened in shock to see mug shots of Aren on screen. He seemed to be off in the photos; his eyes were heavy and he wasn't holding himself up very well, but it was still Aren none the less. Calum read the information being displayed on screen. "Aren Kastanéry: charged with numerous accounts of breaking and entering, theft, murder, and manslaughter."

Once the report was finished, Amber clicked off the screen and swore loudly. "GODDAMNIT! What happened? He was just on a bodyguard assignment, he'd never get caught doing that!" She sat down on one of the couches and put her head in her hands. "What are we going to do about this? If they interrogate him, we're all screwed."

The full weight of Aren's arrest hit Calum like a freight train. He and Desmin didn't have criminal records, because Kai had made sure they'd never get caught. Now that Aren was in custody, everything Kai had built would be coming to a cataclysmic end. Calum scanned the faces of everyone in the room. Dhana was terrified; Desmin had an arm around her shoulder, telling her that everything would be alright. Tsuki was sitting completely still, her expression unreadable. Calum turned to look at Jaekobi, who looked more like he had lost a bet than lost his freedom. Overall, everyone had their eyes to Kai, waiting to see what their leader was planning to do.

Kai was standing still, his eyes shifting back and forth rapidly. "No," he said after a couple moments. "Aren won't say anything; he's too proud to give out information like that." He began pacing while making a humming noise. "And besides, we're going to break him out."

No one in the room gave the slightest look of agreement. Everyone's expressions were either of anger or dread. Amber looked up from her hands to Kai. "And how do you suppose we do that? Even if he's only being held in a transfer cell, that still means we'd have to break into a police station to get him. How are we going to do that?"

Kai smiled maniacally. "With Ches."

Amber's look of defeat changed to a look of irritation. "Why Ches?" she complained. Calum didn't know who or what Ches was, but whatever it was, Amber didn't like the idea of using it.

Kai answered her by spinning around and launching himself up to his loft. "Everybody, you have the rest of the day to yourselves. Tomorrow we start operation: Get the Brat out of Jail!"

Calum edged himself over beside Amber, then spoke up. "Um… what's Ches?"

Amber sighed, "Ches is someone I haven't seen in eight years, and was hoping to never see again." She straightened up and stretched out her back. "But it looks like I've got some freak-hunting to do. Come with me." She picked up a pair of scroll that were laying on an end table, then handed one to Calum.

Calum looked over the scroll as if it were alien technology. "What am I doin'?" he asked.

Amber turned to look at him. "You're helping me look for Wonderland," she ordered.

Part 3

Kai

It wasn't until Kai realised he was on top of one of Beacon Academy's largest towers at night, sharing beers with his long-dead friend, that he was dreaming. Ras was sitting beside him, blowing smoke rings with his cigar while pounding his can of beer at the same time. Even after ten years, Kai could still remember exactly what Ras looked like. He had mid-length brown hair that fell flat against the sides of his head and light brown skin; he was currently starring off into the distance with his mix-matched eyes. Ras still wore his red muscle shirt that showed off the thick sleeves of tattoos he had on both arms. He had black jeans on, but wasn't wearing shoes, just like he always did when he was alive.

Ras suddenly took notice of Kai's revelation. "Hey man, what's wrong?" he asked before taking another puff of his cigar. He stared at Kai with a piercing green eye and a deep blue one.

"Nothing," Kai responded, "I just realised this isn't real; I'm dreaming."

Ras laughed. "Well it's about time! We've been sitting here for twenty minutes and you haven't asked me anything about your issues running Sherwood. Normally you start with that." Ras dropped his usual care-free style of speech, and changed over to a much more serious tone. "So you're hoping I can shed light on Aren's arrest? You're hoping I can give more insight to calling up Ches to help?" He sighed. "Well if you ask me, you should do it."

Kai looked at him quizzically. "Really?" he asked. Ras nodded, then took another drag. Kai turned to look down over the Academy before he continued, "I guess I do have to break Aren out; he won't hold his breath forever. But you think asking Ches to help is the right move?"

Ras stretched, then fell over on his back to stare at the stars. "I do if you do. Remember, I'm not really here, this is just how your inner thoughts look to you." He lifted his arms up to look over them. "Although I must say, you've done a great job of remembering me. Even these tattoos look right." Ras ran his fingers over the large inked symbol on the inside of his right arm. It was an ornate, black eye with a bright red sun instead of an iris.

Kai laughed and fell back beside him. "I don't forget things, remember? It's like you and me are the same person now."

Ras found Kai's observation particularly hilarious: he laughed loud and long at it. "Wow, it's just like our first night here. You were right; the two of us as one person is insane." Ras's smile suddenly dropped to a shocked expression. "Man, you weren't kidding, you do remember everything. Even if I were alive I wouldn't remember that conversation."

Kai sat up. "Ah, don't beat yourself up over it, I was always the brains."

Ras sat up to finish their quote. "And I was always the distraction." The two laughed together as Kai remembered all the trouble the real Ras had gotten him into.

Kai stared out into the sunset, realising just how much of an impact Ras had on his life. Everyone in his team demonstrated a small part of who Ras had been: Aren had his determination, Tsuki was his short temper. Desmin and Calum handled his goofy side fairly well, while Jaekobi took over for his fierce loyalty and dependability. Even soft-spoken Dhana had part of Ras's personality in her desire to always help another person.

Ras suddenly spoke up. "Y'know you didn't pick them because of me, right?" Kai was at first confused as to how Ras knew what he was thinking, until he remembered where he was. "If anything, I was a part of your life to push you to these people. They're a good group; I wish I could have lived long enough to meet them." He smiled. "But I guess I kinda did; my spirit passed from my physical body to yours when I died, and when you die, your spirit will pass on to your friends." Ras suddenly laughed. "It's basically like I'm immortal now!" He leapt to his feet and began screaming at the setting sun. "You here that? I'm immortal bitches! I'm not dead! I'll never be dead!"

Kai began laughing. Even though this Ras was only Kai's inner thoughts, he still felt real, acted real. Even if he didn't actually make sense, Kai still felt better just hearing Ras's spiritual ramblings. Just as Kai was about to join Ras in his joyous rant, his cheers were cut off by a pained gasp. Kai looked over at Ras to see what was wrong.

All the colour had drained from Ras's face, and his shirt was ripped to shreds on his right side. A large wound was visible through the hole in the red fabric. _No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO! _Ras's eyes had lost their ambitious glow, they now stared blankly at him.

"_YOU! YOU KILLED ME!" _Ras screamed. His voice was joined by hundreds of others. His appearance was shifting rapidly, each face staring down on him in hatred. Most of the faces were ones Kai couldn't remember, but some stood out to him. A teenaged boy who had stolen from Kai to feed his younger sister; a girl who had been used as a human shield for a fight Kai didn't remember.

Kai scrambled back from the ghoulish person, trying to wake himself up. "No!" he screamed back in futility. "I didn't want to! I never meant for you to die!" He pulled one of his revolvers from his waist and flipped it into its sword mode. _I just have to wake myself up! I have to get out of here! _Kai pressed the blade against his arm and pulled it across, making a deep cut in his own flesh. Kai flinched at the pain, even though he knew it wasn't real. The Ghost of Ras was still coming at him, so Kai tried again with the sword. It still didn't work. Kai kept backing up, pulling his blade across his arm over and over again until the scene on top of Beacon faded into his loft inside of the lounge warehouse.

Kai sighed in relief, but quickly noticed he had _Ortus's _sword gripped firmly in his hand. His left arm felt numb. When Kai examined it, he saw the deep gashes he had made in his sleep. _Wait, what? Did I… _He felt the blood drain out of his head. Kai's legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor of his loft.

Kai noticed a figure standing in the corner of his room. It stepped forward, then knelt down to speak. "This is our first move, Kai," the figure said. "Unfortunately, you won't be around to make yours." The figure stepped over Kai, kicking him the face while doing so. Kai tried to turn himself over to see who this mysterious person was, but his energy had retreated from his body. He heard the sound of people entering the warehouse as his vision faded to black.


End file.
